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Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780767837361
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0767837363
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 24, 1999
Running Time: 113 minutes
Sales Rank: 33379
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1998
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
You'll wonder at first what The Dreamlife of Angels has to do with the everyday lives and loves of two working-class girls who become unlikely buddies in the gray, cold city of Lille. It's worth waiting to find out. Isa's all big-eyed gamine (Élodie Bouchez), her dark hair short-cropped, a generous mouth given to smiles--she incandesces from homely to arresting radiance. Lacking roots, money, even a permanent roof, this open-hearted twentysomething embraces life as a parade of possibilities, demonstrating a rare gift for making authentic creature contact. In contrast, blonde, slender Marie (Natacha Régnier) suggests a fallen angel, her delicate features frozen into a permanent rictus of suspicious contempt. Class-conscious, this material girl hungers for upscale salvation. Mischievous peasant and would-be princess stalk good-looking guys in the mall; smoke and share confidences in bed; tease a couple of hefty club bouncers, one of whom comes to care, with surprising tenderness, for indifferent Marie. But all the energy and zest flow from Isa (auditioning for club work, her Madonna imitation is flat-out infectious, while Marie slouches through a listless 'Lauren Bacall'). When Marie goes literally mad for a promiscuous club owner (Grégoire Colin)--his wealth and beauty the dream she's been living for--their lovemaking's like warfare; her prideful resistance to his power over her spirit and body is what first--and briefly--turns him on. Bouchez and Régnier rightfully shared Best Actress honors at Cannes: their characters--as well as the comatose girl Isa helps to call back to life--are endearingly earthbound angels, sustained or betrayed by their respective aspirations. First-time director Erick Zonca makes us feel palpably the small, warming pleasures of human existence, the pure, cold pain of a damaged soul exiled from her 'heaven.' Woven seamlessly into Dreamlife's plaincloth design is a persistent faith in miracles. --Kathleen Murphy
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - It's a French Movie
You gotta like French movies to be able to sit down and watch this. It might seem kinda slow and boring at first but the storyline sorta sneaks up on you. The title refers to how Marie (Natacha Regneir) percieves Isa(Elodie Bouchez) as a dreamer when they first met. This is just one of the misconceptions on the characters' part and also the audience because you'd think that the quite, unassuming Marie is the smarter and wiser of the two while Isa the drifter is a luckluster gad about. As the ... Read More
Rating:  - Write that in your diary, Isa!
It is beginning to get harder and harder to decipher cinema fact and fantasy, or should I say non-fiction versus fantasy. With the summer's largest box office possible relying on the fantastical, it is always a relief of fresh air to pick up a film that relies on human drama and realistic elements to pull you in. That is why I was excited to pick up the French film "La Vie Revee Des Anges" (or "The Dreamlife of Angels") because I was up for a moment of drama mixed in with the hardships of reality ... Read More
Rating:  - Rename it The Reality of Angels
This film is primarily a social commentary on the lives of two young women in northern France as they deal with facing the realities of the adult world. There is work, there is love, there is friendship, there is personal growth and an examination of what is valuable and what is not. At times it seems like a documentary, but both actresses are so talented the film moves along at a steady, interesting pace. There is no frequent, catchy musical backround to induce a mood in the audience, much the same ... Read More
Rating: - Too True - The Tears Burn
If anyone remembers what it was like to be young in the 80's - in America - this is the mirror image of that desperation.
The film takes place in France.
It's a marvel of luck, good and bad.
It is a story that will apply to any country, and any age.
Any generation.
Just smile and do your work. What was the quote?
"You look like you were born to do this."
Not the quote - but the gist.
Rating: - wonderful snapshot of a time and place
This is a very beautiful and realistic film about two young women, who appear flatly normal but are in fact complex and struggling. Isa is working class and exploring around, trying ot build some sort of life for herself; she has great charm in a homely sort of way, and can reach out and connect. Marie, who becomes her special companion for a time, is middleclass, a refugee from an abusive household and desperate to escape herself. These are superbly drawn characters and the acting is brilliant, though ... Read More
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