Oddly, as you look at prior reviews for this film, there are many that speak very highly about this film. Not surprisingly, I cannot see why. It is French, which shouldn't garnish the praise just because it is in a different language (at times, foreign language films get praise for just being foreign), the story itself is as bland as white bread with butter, and finally our two main characters bring nothing refreshing to the table. "La Vie Revee Des Anges" transforms before your eyes into an over-hyped sub-par film about the French depression and the absurd nature of the woman's choice. As you can see, I had trouble with this film. I didn't know what to expect when it began, but I wanted to be impressed. I wanted to see phenomenal acting coupled with a story that best represented the imaginative title, but alas, nothing of the sort occurred. Here is what I saw for nearly 113 minutes: a homeless woman travels through France cheating some out of their money. She happens to find work at a sewing factory, but ends up loosing her job not before she meets Marie, a woman of the same vein, who become closer friends. I would argue that a friendship does not blossom, but instead two people searching for something different happen to stay under the same roof. The homeless woman, Isa, convinces Marie that she can say, and the two attempt to share the times of their lives. Surprisingly, they share different values and visions, so when two men enter their lives, they react differently. Then, when a random third enters, he is used to gain sympathy and skewed views from the audience. He is the flint to this fire, but again, it just doesn't gain enough flame. In the end, an event occurs that is meant to shock and evoke tears, but between the lines of boredom, it just garnishes a yawn followed by excitement that the ending credits were drawing near.
I don't want to sound too pessimistic about this film, it had potential. I think director Erick Zonca can control his actors as well as give us haunting images, but when handed a struggling story, it is obvious that he cannot maintain. My biggest issue with this film is that random events occurred to two complete strangers. There was a point in this film where Zonca attempted to connect Isa and Marie as "friends", but as the film continues, I can never see them as such. These two women, prior to working at the same place, never knew each other, yet instantly they were to live together and have a connection. Suddenly, they are "dating" two men, and anger ensues when a third becomes a part of the picture. We were missing some scenes in between that would allow us to see a stronger connection. We needed to see conflict and resolution prior to the ending, or perhaps a stronger story about both of them prior to their first meeting to really have us understand these two. I was bored, these characters brought nothing to the table. Randomly, near the center of the film, Isa begins to visit this other complete stranger of which Zonca immediately demands that we feel sympathy for. What this film transforms into is Zonca throwing random events, that with strengthening stories, would cause any audience member to tear up, but there isn't time for the details, so we eventually ... hum ... get lost in translation.
I think our two actresses would have been strong contestants in this film, had the story not been in shambles. I cannot fault the actresses, though a stronger voice between them would have been helpful. Marie's love interest falls prey again to someone who we, as an audience, don't know anything about. The brief snippets of information that we are handed in this film, does not give us enough to make our own judgment. He is portrayed, wrongly in my eyes, as the villain, but for me, it was just another case of not knowing enough to make the assumption. This is the argument that I have with the relationship between Isa and Marie. We don't know enough, they don't know enough about themselves to really pass judgment. When Marie makes the choice to be with the more dominate male in the film, Isa passes judgment how could she? Did she know enough about the past of Marie or Marie in general to do so? I think not, how could she, we didn't get that satisfaction. So, this annoyed me throughout the film. Characters I didn't even know well enough, were passing judgment on others that nobody new well enough. It was rather embarrassing.
Overall, I focused mainly on the characters of this film as my most irritable moment because I wanted to like these Isa and Marie, but not enough was given to us for anyone to relate to the realizations or hardships. I agree that quite a bit of poverty was happening in France during this time, but again, Zonca could have established this a bit further with a bit more detail. Detail was the lacking element which lead to the downfall of this film. The moments with Isa and Marie could have been heightened with more detail, the scenes with Isa in the hospital could have been more developed, and the final scene could have had such a delivered impact if only we cared. I didn't care about Isa or Marie by the end, and that is why I am bitter about the film. The French have made such amazingly strong films, that this one came as a surprise. I cannot suggest it nor shall I.
Write that in your diary, Isa!
Grade: ** out of *****
I don't want to sound too pessimistic about this film, it had potential. I think director Erick Zonca can control his actors as well as give us haunting images, but when handed a struggling story, it is obvious that he cannot maintain. My biggest issue with this film is that random events occurred to two complete strangers. There was a point in this film where Zonca attempted to connect Isa and Marie as "friends", but as the film continues, I can never see them as such. These two women, prior to working at the same place, never knew each other, yet instantly they were to live together and have a connection. Suddenly, they are "dating" two men, and anger ensues when a third becomes a part of the picture. We were missing some scenes in between that would allow us to see a stronger connection. We needed to see conflict and resolution prior to the ending, or perhaps a stronger story about both of them prior to their first meeting to really have us understand these two. I was bored, these characters brought nothing to the table. Randomly, near the center of the film, Isa begins to visit this other complete stranger of which Zonca immediately demands that we feel sympathy for. What this film transforms into is Zonca throwing random events, that with strengthening stories, would cause any audience member to tear up, but there isn't time for the details, so we eventually ... hum ... get lost in translation.
I think our two actresses would have been strong contestants in this film, had the story not been in shambles. I cannot fault the actresses, though a stronger voice between them would have been helpful. Marie's love interest falls prey again to someone who we, as an audience, don't know anything about. The brief snippets of information that we are handed in this film, does not give us enough to make our own judgment. He is portrayed, wrongly in my eyes, as the villain, but for me, it was just another case of not knowing enough to make the assumption. This is the argument that I have with the relationship between Isa and Marie. We don't know enough, they don't know enough about themselves to really pass judgment. When Marie makes the choice to be with the more dominate male in the film, Isa passes judgment how could she? Did she know enough about the past of Marie or Marie in general to do so? I think not, how could she, we didn't get that satisfaction. So, this annoyed me throughout the film. Characters I didn't even know well enough, were passing judgment on others that nobody new well enough. It was rather embarrassing.
Overall, I focused mainly on the characters of this film as my most irritable moment because I wanted to like these Isa and Marie, but not enough was given to us for anyone to relate to the realizations or hardships. I agree that quite a bit of poverty was happening in France during this time, but again, Zonca could have established this a bit further with a bit more detail. Detail was the lacking element which lead to the downfall of this film. The moments with Isa and Marie could have been heightened with more detail, the scenes with Isa in the hospital could have been more developed, and the final scene could have had such a delivered impact if only we cared. I didn't care about Isa or Marie by the end, and that is why I am bitter about the film. The French have made such amazingly strong films, that this one came as a surprise. I cannot suggest it nor shall I.
Write that in your diary, Isa!
Grade: ** out of *****