La vita sognata degli angeli

At the risk of sounding like a quote whore, if I see ten films better than this one released this year, 1999 is going to be an excellent year. First time director Erick Zonca has made an absolutely stunning debut, which not only resonates while you watch it, but gets you thinking afterwards (for example, I didn't get that last shot right away, but after thinking about it, I did). And while there's a philosophical point to be made, this is not what I would call a "nothingness of being" movie, where the primary interest of the filmmaker would seem to be either lecturing the audience, or in self-indulgent symbolism. Instead, Zonca makes his points lightly and carefully, allowing them to build up for us later.

Of course, it also helps that he has the services of Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier, who deservedly shared the Best Actress Award at Cannes last year(and if there's any justice, will be nominated for an Oscar this year). Bouchez's Isa is hooked on life, in a dreamy way, and is open to all the possibilities, yet she sees how fleeting it all is. Regnier's Marie, on the other hand, doesn't expect much from the hand she's been dealt, and enters a bad relationship because of it, but there's enough there that we desperately wish she could find the peace Isa wishes her near the end. I forget who said great acting is in the eyes, but Bouchez and Regnier certainly qualify there; you can see the life in Bouchez's, and the cold resignation in Regnier's. This is an outstanding film.

Yes, the acting is superb, both the leads: the footloose, free-spirit Isa and the angry and erratic Marie. Also the supporting cast: the fat-boy bouncer and the rich-boy cad.

What's available to young women cast out of the nest? How does one survive the winters as a homeless person in the northern France? Mind-numbing factory work is available. But where to live, and how to find the community that homo sapiens need to be mentally healthy? We learn what it takes to survive. Isa has great resources; she's an extrovert and has a genuine concern for others. She finds community with a most unlikely person. Poor Marie, wanly beautiful, is withdrawn and suspicious; one must intrude forcibly to get beyond her defenses. And yet she's careless. So faced with the same chances, one woman finds psychic sustenance while the other stumbles into despair.

Writer-director Erick Zonca's debut film certainly is a bold attempt with no apology to the subjects at hand. He succeeded in delivering the many facets of living and loving -- essentially surviving life's difficulties and juxtaposing how one, with persistence, can come through it all vs. the flip side of a helpless condition -- a suicidal person in one's own entrapment.

Isa is the embodiment of tenacity and hope eternal, while Marie is depressive non self-loving personified. Isa's goal in life is to appreciate living, however modest, and her willingness to help others, to share a little happiness keeps her going in spite of all odds. Marie, on the other hand, is the extreme opposite: she has no love for anything or anyone -- she hates herself, her mother, her family, her life -- her low self-esteem alienated herself and the people around her who really care for her. A delusional cocoon she's wrapped herself in, and when it breaks, it crumbles to a point of no return. It's depressing to see her development, or rather, non-development, while it's uplifting to see Isa balancing the harsh realities of life.

Due credits to the two main leading ladies, Elodie Bouchez as Isa and Natacha Regnier as Marie. Bouchez really shines: her smile, her candidness, her enthusiasm in living exudes on her face! Self-esteem is an important element and that is what character Marie very much is lacking. Emotionally unbalanced with violent reactions, she does not know what to do with herself or what she wants -- aimlessly she seeks for affection mistaken as lovingness; she's numb and unreachable. She took Isa's friendship for granted while Isa tries her utmost to 'save' Marie from falling into a helpless self-pitiful state.

Miracles do happen. Tenacity does reward. Tragedy is by fate destined. Marie asked, "what if the other person refuses," and Isa said, "you move on". We are fortunate to be able to learn with Isa, smile and laugh with her, explore and read the diary book, visit Sandrine at the hospital, talk to Sandrine, touch her, and hope and pray with her. There is strength in Isa's brilliant smiling face -- gentleness and human spirit she truly stands for. She is an angel, a godsend!

This is NFE (not for everyone): there are explicit intimate scenes and the behavior displayed by character Marie is not encouraged, thus mature audience consumption only. It's in French. Pacing is relatively tight compared to most French films.

Anne Fontaine's "Dry Cleaning" is another French film subtly interweaved the depiction of a young man who has depressive suicidal bent without being evident. It describes a couple, Miou-Miou's character Nicole, a discontented wife married 15 years to a Dry Cleaning business owner, Jean-Marie (portrayed by Charles Berling), leading a rather uneventful life in this small suburban town, when one day, Loic the young man (sensitively portrayed by Stanislas Merhar) entered their lives, home and stirred emotional havoc. Good performances in spite of the lull steady pace. For mature and patient audience. Another NFE.

Dreamlife Of Angels best exemplifies why I enjoy foreign films. It is not dependent on "star" power, computer generated images, overt violence, or scenes with fantastic stunts. What it has are characters which are richly developed, believable, showing emotions which are palpable and for whom we can care. What we find out here is simple is sometimes best. The plot is the life and death of a friendship. It is an interesting character study of two poor, young women. One is outgoing and carefree while the other has been abused is more withdrawn and insecure. The set is a small, very plain town in France which was filmed simply and often with hand held cameras. The performances by Elodie Bouchez (Isa) and Natacha Regnier (Marie) in the title characters were outstanding. Gregorie Colin (Chris) as the boyfriend, club owner, and heel was great as well. The film as also provides food for thought in its title especially considering the last few scenes. I'll let you make those conclusions. If you don't get to see this film in the theater, rent it. Caution: the film's rating is due to a rather explicit sex scene. Three plus stars!!!

Think of desperate couples in cinema and you conjure up Joe Buck and Ratzo from "Midnight Cowboy" or "Thelma and Louise". After seeing the beautifully done French film, "Dreamlife of Angels", you must add Isa and Marie to that list. "Dreamlife of Angels" triumphs because it is a story simply told and acted with such real-life honesty that you feel intimately tied to the main characters by film's end. It also helps that it is filmed mostly with a hand-held camera giving close ups and studied portraits of two people's alienated lives. Isabella is twenty-one, moving from town to town with all her worldly belongings on her backpack, intelligent yet strangely without much of a future. Marie is the same age and in the same rut, seemingly without any anchor herself although she does have a flat she is 'house-sitting' since the mother and daughter occupants have been involved in a tragic auto accident. They want to chain smoke their way through life, devoid of wealth and ambition. There is much insight into their broken lives when Isa remarks that her father left her mother for another woman when she was young while Marie counters that having separated parents is better than to have an abusive father living together with her victimized mother. The title of this film suggests an angelic life but it is clear from their bleak existence that it is a wish and a yearning rather than reality. Isa and Marie do get to share each other's misery. And their desire not to follow the cookie cutter mode does unite them for awhile (the film makes pointed references to a sewing factory and an electronics workplace where everyone is doing the exact tedious chore). However Marie falls prey to her blind passion to love and be loved and cannot tolerate the conscience personified by Isa. For it is Isa that nags about loyalty to friends, about the scoundrel boyfriend Chris who will only break her heart and about a bond of fidelity toward Sandrine, hospitalized in a deep coma and someone Isa knows only from reading her personal diary. "Dreamlife of Angels" could have passed as another soap opera if not for the genuine performances of Elodie Bouchez as Isa and Natacha Regnier as Marie. Their smiles and grimaces are heartfelt and it is their portraits which illuminate a most telling story of love, betrayal, and finally resignation.