French movies are always different from any other cinema. They don't look like the average Hollywood production, but even though they are European, they can't really be compared to other European movies either, except for the English perhaps. The style of the French and English cinema aren't the same, but the subjects often are. Most of the time you'll get the story of people who have a hard time making the best of their lives, who live in poverty or bad conditions,... You'll not really find that as much in other countries like for instance Denmark, Spain, Italy,... in Asia or the USA.
"La Vie rêvée des anges" or "The Dreamlife of Angels", as it is called in English, tells the story of two young women, Marie and Isabelle, who meet each other in a sweatshop, where they have to operate sewing machines. Marie is apartment-sitting for a mother and her daughter who are in a hospital and in a coma after they had a terrible accident. Isabelle has been living with her backpack on her back, not knowing where she will end up the next day and sometimes selling handmade cards on street corners to earn a little money. Both have a difficult life and that's perhaps the only thing that really keeps both girls together. They find joy and adventure in one another's company, but sometimes also have incredible fights because their worlds are too far away from each other...
If you are looking for a movie that will leave you with a good feeling after you've seen it, than you better start looking for another one. This film has a heavy subject and especially the ending will make you swallow a couple of times. I'm not going to tell you what that ending exactly is, but in my opinion it was the strongest part of the movie and one of the toughest, but also most touching endings I've seen in a movie in recent times. For me personally the rest of the story was certainly worth watching, but not always very original. I've seen it in more movies, but that doesn't mean of course that it can't be any good.
The acting certainly is nice. The two leading actresses didn't get a Golden Palm in Cannes for nothing for this movie and I can understand perfectly why the jury decided to give Élodie Bouchez as well as Natacha Régnier a reward. It's impossible to say that the one was so much better than the other, both gave away a strong performance.
As a conclusion I want to say that if you are looking for a feel-good movie, this certainly isn't what you are looking for, but if you are looking for a movie with a good subject and some strong acting than you might give it a try. Despite the fact that the story isn't the most original one ever, the movie stands firm on its feet and that's why I give it a 7/10.
"La Vie rêvée des anges" or "The Dreamlife of Angels", as it is called in English, tells the story of two young women, Marie and Isabelle, who meet each other in a sweatshop, where they have to operate sewing machines. Marie is apartment-sitting for a mother and her daughter who are in a hospital and in a coma after they had a terrible accident. Isabelle has been living with her backpack on her back, not knowing where she will end up the next day and sometimes selling handmade cards on street corners to earn a little money. Both have a difficult life and that's perhaps the only thing that really keeps both girls together. They find joy and adventure in one another's company, but sometimes also have incredible fights because their worlds are too far away from each other...
If you are looking for a movie that will leave you with a good feeling after you've seen it, than you better start looking for another one. This film has a heavy subject and especially the ending will make you swallow a couple of times. I'm not going to tell you what that ending exactly is, but in my opinion it was the strongest part of the movie and one of the toughest, but also most touching endings I've seen in a movie in recent times. For me personally the rest of the story was certainly worth watching, but not always very original. I've seen it in more movies, but that doesn't mean of course that it can't be any good.
The acting certainly is nice. The two leading actresses didn't get a Golden Palm in Cannes for nothing for this movie and I can understand perfectly why the jury decided to give Élodie Bouchez as well as Natacha Régnier a reward. It's impossible to say that the one was so much better than the other, both gave away a strong performance.
As a conclusion I want to say that if you are looking for a feel-good movie, this certainly isn't what you are looking for, but if you are looking for a movie with a good subject and some strong acting than you might give it a try. Despite the fact that the story isn't the most original one ever, the movie stands firm on its feet and that's why I give it a 7/10.