Dreams of a Life

Newspaper headlines are flashed on screen detailing the strange case of a 38 year old woman found dead in her apartment after three years. Joyce Carol Vincent died a lonesome death, without drawing notice. A pathologist could not determine the cause of death due to its decomposition. Dental records were used for identification. The people who discovered her said that the television was on and Christmas presents were partially wrapped. A reenactment shows a team in hazmat suits decontaminating the flat. A picture of a pretty black woman is shown while interviews with friends and co-workers begin.She is described as well spoken and easy going. Her mother wast Indian and father a black Grenadian carpenter and womanizer. Her mother died when she was eleven and she told those around her that her father had also passed away. Later on it is discovered that he passed away a year after her.

Recordings are played from a studio session when Joyce was aspiring to be a professional singer. A boyfriend, Martin, speaks well of her with fond memories. He is white and overweight and was shocked that such a good looking woman would date him. Another boyfriend remembers living with her and the night she tells him how she met Nelson Mandela. They eventually drift apart and she lives a nomadic lifestyle, rooming with different men and possibly being physically abused by one. A beautiful actress(Zawe Ashton) portrays Joyce in the film and she is very good.

Ironically, the most compelling figure of the story turns out to be Martin, who with introspection, regrets the choices he made because he never stops thinking about Joyce, who he loved very much.

Dreams of A Life is a powerful and moving statement on how little we really know about each other and the inner demons within all of us.

Carol Morley has come up with a really interesting idea.

She's written and directed a documentary about the mysterious death of a beautiful West Indian 39 year old girl (Joyce Vincent) who was a major hit with the lads "People said she was as good looking as Whitney Houston; I thought she was more attractive than that." and had hundreds of friends and admirers and a huge family to boot; four sisters.

The film is not so much about how she died but the fact that it took three years for her body to be discovered. In her flat. Watching her TV which was still on.

No Electricity company shut her utilities off; the council never chased the rent; no one complained about the smell; none of her friends visited; none of doting ex's; none of her family. Nobody.

Carol Morley builds a documentary mixing dramatised re-enactments of her life and "Touching the Void" type real life storytelling to get closer to the truth than the police ever did.

It's a fascinating idea and in places nicely shot with some interesting music (although hardly a career high for ex-Magazine bassist Barry Adamson).

Why then is it so unengaging emotionally? Why do we not really care about poor Joyce Vincent? I think because the story is dragged 30 – 40 minutes past is tell by date. It's just far too long.

It's a shame because I really wanted to like it and applaud almost everything about it; including the fact that it was funded (in part by the Irish Film Board!?) and the incredible detective work that Carol Morley did to unearth so many of the people in Joyce Vincent's life when the police found not one of them.

In the end, it just makes the police look ridiculous.

And poor old Martin, the bachelor who lost the love of his life.

Bless him.

If you are the type of person who is interested in peoples lives this is your film to watch, of course this way is not everyone is but don't let bad reviews put you off.My eyes never left the screen, I found it immensely interesting and quite sad. I feel it is really important for this film to have been made, simply for the fact that because of this film she did not disappear and even though she died alone she didn't live her life in vain. My feeling after watching the film was that in a sense we could all gain perspective - That is how vivid all of our lives are if only we can see it... Joyce may have never known how much people cared but the fact is they had, and what we must remember is there is always someone willing to help, there is always a chance. It seems she had many, for example seeing her old housemate randomly on the street - it could have been a chance to get help - This film is simply a quest to bring back some dignity and life for someone that could have just disappeared off the face of the earth. Now she is in so many peoples memories and I find that quite a noble quest.

About a decade ago I worked in the offices of a local council's Environmental Health department and, among the jobs that fell into this department was that of dealing with the issue of people who had been found dead and didn't have anyone to make the arrangements. It didn't happen too often but occasionally the office would be used as a temporary store for loads of books, VHS tapes or other hoarded possessions of people who had died alone and seemed to have nobody. I never attended the funerals of these people but colleagues who did the arrangements generally reported a few friends or family but that was all. Despite never knowing these people, I had made the decision that these were sad lonely people who lived alone forever, knew nobody and had always been that way.

In a way, when we enter this film and hear about Joyce, this is the same impression it is very easy to have; she died alone and lay undiscovered for three years Three years with nobody anywhere really making an effort to find out why they hadn't seen her for a while. The lack of information in the paper about this person is what led Morley to make this documentary and she does unearth a lot and a great deal of it shows that Joyce was not some introverted hermit but in some ways just the opposite. It was clear from the detail that she did carry a great sadness within her, but at the same time she was active socially, had famous connections in the music industry and was a very attractive woman. The film builds this picture well – even surprising her friends with some details, but it never really gets to a point or to answers and this is the main problem with the film.

On the whole it does engage by virtue of how saddening it is and in the way it forces the viewer to ask questions of (and about) ones self, but this isn't quite enough to make the film fill 90 minutes. The details of Joyce's life only increased the questions but the film doesn't lay blame anywhere and doesn't investigate how anyone can go unnoticed for three years. This side of things isn't as good and it is a real shame as it could have had more of an impact. The subject itself is fascinating though and the mix of interviews and dramatized moments does work pretty well – with some interesting characters in her life and some great moments acted out by Ashton. The direction and look of the film is mostly good – it is very lively and good looking, not unlike the Joyce we see portrayed as well.

Dreams of a Life is a depressing and engaging film thanks to the subject matter and the way it is delivered, but it doesn't go far enough. It doesn't have an overall point in particular and it leaves as many questions as it answers; the viewer is left with a sense of sadness which is worthy but not a real understanding of anything beyond this one person. I liked it for what it did well, but the gaps are disappointing.

I remember learning about the discovery of Joyce Vincent's body a few years ago and thinking what a sad and disturbing news story it was, almost beggaring belief in present day civilised society. This superbly and sensitively crafted drama documentary from Carol Morley answers a mere handful of the many questions which inevitably followed while inevitably producing a myriad of others.

It is a salutary reminder that life is both precious and mysterious, things are often not what they seem and how we all think we know our friends but in reality our comprehension is limited to what we are actually permitted to see and understand.

The most refreshing and at the same time most disturbing impression given is that Joyce's friends appear to be genuine, caring people but despite this, she still slipped through the emotional and physical net which binds humanity together.

The power of this film makes the loss almost as tangible to the audience as it must have felt to Martin. It reminds us that although time is often regarded as a great unhurried and invisible healer, it can also be corrosively destructive.

Plenty to contemplate here...