The Dreamlife of Angels
Encyclopedia
The Dreamlife of Angels is a 1998
French
drama film
directed by Erick Zonca
.
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
The Dreamlife of Angels is a 1998
French
drama film
directed by Erick Zonca
.
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
The Dreamlife of Angels is a 1998
French
drama film
directed by Erick Zonca
.
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival....
.
Story
The film is about two working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
Comas in movies
Research by Dr. Eelco Wijdicks on the depiction of comas in movies was published in Neurology in May 2006. Dr. Wijdicks studied 30 films (made between 1970 and 2004) that portrayed actors in prolonged comas, and he concluded that only two films accurately depicted the state of a coma victim and the agony of waiting for a patient to awaken: Reversal of FortuneReversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
Cast
- Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
: Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin - Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux...
: Marie Thomas - Grégoire ColinGrégoire ColinGrégoire Colin is a French actor, producer, screenwriter, and director.-Career:Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama Olivier, Olivier when he was just 17...
: Chriss - Patrick Mercado: Charly
- Jo Prestia: Fredo
- Francine Massenhave: hospital attendant
- Zivko Niklevski: Yugoslavian textile employer
- Murielle Colvez: shop foreperson
- Lyazid Ouelhadj: ticket salesman
- Frédérique Hazard: Marie's mother
- Jean-Michel Lemahieu: the intern
- Louise Motte: Sandrine
- Rosa Maria: the first nurse
- Corinne Masiero: the Hollywood girl
Awards
- 1998 Cannes Film Festival1998 Cannes Film FestivalThe 51st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-24, 1998. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film Mia aioniotita kai mia mera by Theo Angelopoulos.- Jury :*Martin Scorsese *Alain Corneau *Chiara Mastroianni...
- Won: Best ActressBest Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....
award: Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
and Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux... - Nominated: Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
(Golden Palm)
- Won: Best Actress
- 1999 César AwardCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s- Won: Best ActressCésar Award for Best ActressList of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...
: Élodie Bouchez - Won: Best FilmCésar Award for Best FilmThe winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Won: Most Promising Actress: Natacha Régnier
- Nominated: Best Cinematography: Agnès GodardAgnès GodardAgnès Godard is a César Award-winning French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis.-Biography, career and collaboration with Denis:...
- Nominated: Best DirectorCésar Award for Best DirectorThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
: Erick ZoncaErick ZoncaErick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.... - Nominated: Best First Work: Erick Zonca
- Nominated: Best Writing - Original or Adaptation: Erick Zonca and Roger Bohbot
- Won: Best Actress
External links
- La Vie Rêvée des Anges at the BFI
- Review at Salon.com
- http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/dreamlifeofangels/filmmakers/ez.html
The Dreamlife of Angels is a 1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival....
.
Story
The film is about two working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
Comas in movies
Research by Dr. Eelco Wijdicks on the depiction of comas in movies was published in Neurology in May 2006. Dr. Wijdicks studied 30 films (made between 1970 and 2004) that portrayed actors in prolonged comas, and he concluded that only two films accurately depicted the state of a coma victim and the agony of waiting for a patient to awaken: Reversal of FortuneReversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
Cast
- Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
: Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin - Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux...
: Marie Thomas - Grégoire ColinGrégoire ColinGrégoire Colin is a French actor, producer, screenwriter, and director.-Career:Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama Olivier, Olivier when he was just 17...
: Chriss - Patrick Mercado: Charly
- Jo Prestia: Fredo
- Francine Massenhave: hospital attendant
- Zivko Niklevski: Yugoslavian textile employer
- Murielle Colvez: shop foreperson
- Lyazid Ouelhadj: ticket salesman
- Frédérique Hazard: Marie's mother
- Jean-Michel Lemahieu: the intern
- Louise Motte: Sandrine
- Rosa Maria: the first nurse
- Corinne Masiero: the Hollywood girl
Awards
- 1998 Cannes Film Festival1998 Cannes Film FestivalThe 51st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-24, 1998. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film Mia aioniotita kai mia mera by Theo Angelopoulos.- Jury :*Martin Scorsese *Alain Corneau *Chiara Mastroianni...
- Won: Best ActressBest Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....
award: Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
and Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux... - Nominated: Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
(Golden Palm)
- Won: Best Actress
- 1999 César AwardCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s- Won: Best ActressCésar Award for Best ActressList of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...
: Élodie Bouchez - Won: Best FilmCésar Award for Best FilmThe winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Won: Most Promising Actress: Natacha Régnier
- Nominated: Best Cinematography: Agnès GodardAgnès GodardAgnès Godard is a César Award-winning French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis.-Biography, career and collaboration with Denis:...
- Nominated: Best DirectorCésar Award for Best DirectorThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
: Erick ZoncaErick ZoncaErick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.... - Nominated: Best First Work: Erick Zonca
- Nominated: Best Writing - Original or Adaptation: Erick Zonca and Roger Bohbot
- Won: Best Actress
External links
- La Vie Rêvée des Anges at the BFI
- Review at Salon.com
- http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/dreamlifeofangels/filmmakers/ez.html
The Dreamlife of Angels is a 1998
1998 in film
-Events:* February 14 - Sharon Stone marries Phil Bronstein.* Former child star Gary Coleman is charged with assaulting a young female bus driver at a California shopping mall.-Top grossing films:...
French
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca
Erick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival....
.
Story
The film is about two working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
women, Isa and Marie. Isa is a drifter and searching for a lover she had met during the summer. When she realizes that her search for him is futile and turns elsewhere she meets Marie, who lives in a small French town near Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
. The two young women instantly find a connection as they both have been treated harshly by life and are living from day to day in short-time jobs, such as working in a textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
factory or delivering leaflets in the streets. Marie lives in an apartment that she is looking after because the owners had a car accident in which everyone died, except for Sandrine, a teenager, who is in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Marie invites Isa to live with her. Shortly thereafter Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers, Fredo and Charly, whom they befriend. The men help them out and they have genuine fun together, although they are not much better off than the women.
Isa is the kind of girl who always lands on her two feet and has a casual c'est la vie attitude when it comes to life, while Marie finds it hard to express herself emotionally, and gets angry when she feels vulnerable. Marie cannot put up with the way she is tossed around by the world, and so, despite being in a relationship with Charly, she tries to escape through a local playboy, Chriss, a rich guy, who owns a bar and a night club (which the two bouncers work in), and regularly goes out with girls, seeing Marie as just another one of his random flings. Isa is tougher in that she can take the beating and stick with what is around her, and does not get carried away by the false possibility of a better life. Significantly, Isa refuses to sleep with her casual boyfriend Fredo, drawing her strength from within, while Marie is emotionally dependent on Chriss, who, it is clear, does not love her.
Isa finds the diary of Sandrine, and reads it to her during visits in the hospital. Meanwhile, Chriss decides to end his fling with Marie. Instead of breaking up with her in person, he asks Isa to tell her for him (she replies "it's not for me to tell her"), clearly afraid Marie would self destruct in front of him, then leaving Marie's later calls unreturned. After finally learning about Chriss' decision to end the relationship, Marie jumps out of a window. Meanwhile, Sandrine comes out of her coma, but interestingly, Isa, who has visited her so faithfully while she was in a coma, decides not to see her while she is awake. The film ends with Isa starting to work in a new factory.
Comas in movies
Research by Dr. Eelco Wijdicks on the depiction of comas in movies was published in Neurology in May 2006. Dr. Wijdicks studied 30 films (made between 1970 and 2004) that portrayed actors in prolonged comas, and he concluded that only two films accurately depicted the state of a coma victim and the agony of waiting for a patient to awaken: Reversal of FortuneReversal of Fortune
Reversal of Fortune is a 1990 film adapted from the 1985 book Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case, written by law professor Alan Dershowitz...
(1990), which was based on actual events, and The Dreamlife of Angels (1998). The remaining 28 were criticised for portraying miraculous awakenings with no lasting side effects; unrealistic depictions of treatments and equipment required; and comatose patients remaining tanned, muscular, and suspiciously well turned out.
Cast
- Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
: Isabelle 'Isa' Tostin - Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux...
: Marie Thomas - Grégoire ColinGrégoire ColinGrégoire Colin is a French actor, producer, screenwriter, and director.-Career:Grégoire started acting on the French stage at age 12. He first caught the eye of critics in the 1992 Agnieszka Holland's psychological family drama Olivier, Olivier when he was just 17...
: Chriss - Patrick Mercado: Charly
- Jo Prestia: Fredo
- Francine Massenhave: hospital attendant
- Zivko Niklevski: Yugoslavian textile employer
- Murielle Colvez: shop foreperson
- Lyazid Ouelhadj: ticket salesman
- Frédérique Hazard: Marie's mother
- Jean-Michel Lemahieu: the intern
- Louise Motte: Sandrine
- Rosa Maria: the first nurse
- Corinne Masiero: the Hollywood girl
Awards
- 1998 Cannes Film Festival1998 Cannes Film FestivalThe 51st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-24, 1998. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film Mia aioniotita kai mia mera by Theo Angelopoulos.- Jury :*Martin Scorsese *Alain Corneau *Chiara Mastroianni...
- Won: Best ActressBest Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....
award: Élodie BouchezÉlodie BouchezÉlodie Bouchez-Bangalter is a French actress. She is best known in the United States for her role as Renée Rienne on the fifth and final season of the television show Alias...
and Natacha RégnierNatacha RégnierNatacha Régnier is a Belgian actress.Born in the Ixelles section of Brussels, she was attracted to theatre from early adolescence. Her first screen role was in The Motorcycle Girl , a short film by Stéphan Carpiaux... - Nominated: Palme d'OrPalme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
(Golden Palm)
- Won: Best Actress
- 1999 César AwardCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s- Won: Best ActressCésar Award for Best ActressList of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Actress .-Winners and nominees:...
: Élodie Bouchez - Won: Best FilmCésar Award for Best FilmThe winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Won: Most Promising Actress: Natacha Régnier
- Nominated: Best Cinematography: Agnès GodardAgnès GodardAgnès Godard is a César Award-winning French cinematographer. She is most famous for her long-running collaboration with filmmaker Claire Denis.-Biography, career and collaboration with Denis:...
- Nominated: Best DirectorCésar Award for Best DirectorThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
: Erick ZoncaErick ZoncaErick Zonca is a French film director, best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning 1998 feature film debut The Dreamlife of Angels. The film won the Best Actress award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.... - Nominated: Best First Work: Erick Zonca
- Nominated: Best Writing - Original or Adaptation: Erick Zonca and Roger Bohbot
- Won: Best Actress
External links
- La Vie Rêvée des Anges at the BFI
- Review at Salon.com
- http://www.sonypictures.com/classics/dreamlifeofangels/filmmakers/ez.html