# Vie rêvée des anges, La (1998)

### reviewed by
Susan Granger

http://www.speakers-podium.com/susangranger.

Susan Granger's review of "THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS" (Sony Pictures Classics)

In French with English subtitles, 42 year-old Erick Zonca's first feature film revolves around two young working women of contrasting temperament who meet as minimum-wage seamstresses in a garment factory in the city of Lille, in northern France, and sustain each other for a brief time out of necessity. Elodie Bouchez plays Isa, a scruffy, spike-haired, happy-go-lucky gamine who travels with her rucksack from city to city, taking odd jobs where she can find them. Natacha Regnier plays the edgy, moodier Marie, who views the world as bleak and perpetually clouded. Both come from broken homes. Neither possesses marketable skills nor has a support network of any kind. The strength of the film lies in its poignant, soulful compassion and its stirring evocation of their raw, desperate daily struggles, particularly with the men who use them for their own selfish needs. While the plot is deceptively simple, the script is a bit incoherent, and the pacing is definitely European, the charismatic actresses are superb. Deservedly, they shared the Golden Palm for Best Actress at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Parental Warning: this is an adult film with nudity and intense sexual content. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "La Vie Revee des Anges" or "The Dreamlife of Angels" is a gray, grimly realistic, yet delicate 7. For those who admire the art of acting, it may be worth the price of admission just to marvel at the fully-realized, bracing performances.

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