DVD Review: Dreamlife of Angels, The (A)

The Dreamlife of Angels (1998)
Directed by: Erick Zonka
Starring: Elodie Bouchez, Natacha Ragnier, Gregoire Colin
MPAA: R
Grade: A

Review by Ellyn Elm

Isa (Elodie Bouchez), a free spirited young woman backpacking across the country meets up with Marie (Natacha Regnier), a disaffected misanthrope, while working in a sewing factory. Despite their very different personalities, the two become fast friends.

So begins The Dreamlife of Angels (La Vie Revee des Anges), a weighty film with richly developed characters set against a spartan landscape.

Through the unlikely pairing of Isa and Marie, this film explores the loneliness of the human condition and our need for companionship and connection in our relationship with others. The relationship between the girls is doomed by Marie's demons, and Isa learns through painful experience that her goodwill and openness will not necessarily enable her to establish the connection she seeks. Marie, consumed by pain and rage, is simply doomed.

I don't want to give away anymore of the movie than that so you'll have to trust me when I tell you that it's one of the best movies I've seen in years.

Dreamlife is a subtle film, unhurried and graceful. And, I must say, it's quite refreshing to watch a movie that is more concerned about telling the story than about selling the soundtrack.

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