The Dreamlife of Angels

REVIEW
An intimate, and deceptively simple film, The Dreamlife of Angels nevertheless packs an indelible emotional wallop. Isa (Bouchez) is a wanderer who meets factory-worker Marie (Regnier) when she stops in the northern French town of Lille. Marie agrees to let Isa stay with her in the apartment of a woman who is hospitalized in a coma, and these two very different women soon forge a complex and unlikely friendship. While Isa becomes fascinated by the apartment's owner, Marie begins an ill-fated relationship with Chriss (Colin), a wealthy nightclub owner. Director Zonca chronicles the survival instincts and self-destructive tendencies of both Isa and Marie as they conduct their affairs, filming much of the action in real time. The naturalistic performances by the three leads are uninformly outstanding, and the film's stark directorial style only reinforces the despair of the lives on display. Emotionally complex and ultimately devastating. (French with English subtitles)