first films are usually clumsy , experimental , and uneven . but 43-year-old erick zonca has turned the tables with his first film , the dreamlife of angels . like many french films , the dreamlife of angels is slow-paced , but the surplus of emotion makes up for the lack of plot . the film features two outstanding performances from elodie bouchez and natacha regnier , who shared the best actress award at last year's cannes film festival , while peter mullan took home best actor for my name is joe , a similar emotional experience . the first character we meet in the dreamlife of angels is isa ( elodie bouchez ) , an impoverished drifter with a past we never learn much about . she wanders into a french city , selling homemade postcards which she says are for the poor . a man whom she meets in a cafe lets her have a sewing job in his factory . in the factory , she meets marie ( natacha regnier ) , a shy woman given to fits of rage . marie agrees to let isa stay at her flat , which she is taking care of for a woman who was in a car crash with her young daughter . isa and marie become friends , and during a night on the town , they meet charly ( patrick mercado ) and fredo ( jo prestia ) , a couple of bouncers from a nearby nightclub . charly and marie are involved until she meets chris ( gregoire colin ) , a rich playboy who owns the club . it is obvious that marie is with the wrong man , and it seems to be tearing her apart , and slowly she is suffering a nervous breakdown . meanwhile , isa has begun to read the personal diary of the girl who was in the car crash , and she begins to visit the child in the hospital , day after day . the dreamlife of angels doesn't offer much in the way of a plot , and it takes quite a while to get going , but soon it's not hard to see that the film is a study of two characters , and since they are portrayed so realistically , it's hard not to feel emotionally drained after watching the film . the filmmaking is sometimes raw , and sometimes graceful , depending on the mood of the scene . erick zonca is amazingly gifted , because it takes many filmmakers a few films to create such a sense of powerful immediacy . the dreamlife of angels is a superb , riveting film , and is sure to be among the best first films of the year . a review by akiva gottlieb , the teenage movie critic <a href= " mailto : akiva@excite . com " >akiva@excite . com</a> <a href= " http : //www . angelfire . com/mo/film " >http : //www . angelfire . com/mo/film</a> watch me on tbs' " dinner and a movie " may 21 , 8 : 05pm est <hr>get your free , private email at <a href= " http : //mail . excite . com/ " >http : //mail . excite . com/</a> 
