esrosedotblog

DREAM ON

Today's film, a NY Times Best 1176, has an utterly original story. Two sub-working class girls, young women actually, become friends accidentally and begin to live together. They are effectively runaways from families that they never really had in the first place.

For awhile their luck works for them and then it does not. Their dreams are vague and unrealistic and they are ill equipped to handle real life.The film is
La Vie rêvée des anges / The Dreamlife of Angels. (1998).

The style here is almost documentary. The acting is superb. It is a totally absorbing film. There is some tough stuff to watch in it. Some of the sex is rough and the ending is not what we would write if it were a Hollywood coming of age film. That is a good thing.

The girls are great, they shared Best Actress at Cannes. They are separated by their sexuality or lack thereof. Only one of them is sexually involved and in a way that is to erase her feelings. She is a depressive. The other is a gamin. Sexless. The little sister. Leslie Caron, Audrey Tatou. Very French. She feels abandoned.

The boyfriends are great too. The one is a 'bear' and a nice man as 'bears' tend to be. The other is a hunk and a bit of a shit. Well, a real shit; as hunks tend to be. He is just so pretty I wanted him to be nicer. I think that is what they wanted me to feel/think.

I should say that this is not a tragic movie. It is fascinating to watch and the relationships are intriguing. It is also not about lesbians. The affection between the girls is sisterly but, in the end, they are not and cannot be sisters. And if they are they have to grow away from each other.

Time flew. Feelings flowed. The whole thing is a very nice package, indeed.

I wish I understood French so I could have gotten all of it.

I will give it a 4 out of Netflix5 and you should see it too.