Dreamlife of Angels | Lovers of the Arctic Circle | The Mummy

So far, so ordinary. Director Erick Zonca nearly lost me at this point, so used to conventional Hollyweird plotting and story that I've become. Zonca's working solely on character studies, focusing on the details of these individual lives and how they interact. The girls harass a couple of bouncers (Patrick Mercado, Jo Prestia) at a rock club, Isa is fired from her job, Marie quits in a show of solidarity, and while they commiserate at a bar, the bouncers show up and they hassle each other some more. Again, ordinary, meandering, only a very little bit intriguing.

Things begin to deteriorate when Marie develops an interest in Chris (Grégoire Colin), the rich kid owner of a local club. He treats Marie very callously, apparently adding her to his list of sexual conquests. Their intimate moments are rough, animalistic, as though this is the only way they can communicate, as though Marie will go to any lengths, no matter how personally humiliating, to get a leg up in society. For Chris' wealth can afford her that leg up.

While Marie searches for external validation, Isa turns inward. A giver, instead of a taker (like Marie), she develops an interest in the hospitalized teenager in whose apartment she is staying. She begins to read the girl's diaries, to herself at first, then reading them aloud to the comatose girl during hospital visits. When her friendship with Marie begins to go sour, Isa looks for solace by giving of herself.

One sign finally proved to me that I was totally wrapped up in these characters' lives: it's a scene, filmed very matter-of-factly, that comes so unexpectedly your breath might catch in your chest. Sure, the action Marie takes is heavy-handed, but it also seems a foregone conclusion.

Don't go to The Dreamlife of Angels expecting a conventional story told in conventional ways. Go expecting a detailed character study of two seemingly marginal lives in a marginalized society. Zonca's documentary style (hand-held camera, harsh, natural sound, extended moments) will draw you in even if the sincere performances from Bouchez and Régnier don't. And I can't see that happening, though it may take a while.

RATING: ***