THE DREAMLIFE OF ANGELS

First-time feature writer-director Erick Zonca spent two years searching for the right faces to act in his film, and the results are well-worth the effort. Elodie Bouchez and newcomer Natacha Regnier play drifting free spirits in this cinema verite-style gem. Their riveting performances are at the heart of this impressive debut )and won them a shared prize for best actress at last year's Cannes Film Festival). Isa (Bouchez) is twenty and wanders thorugh France with all her worldly possessions stuffed into one knapsack, taking odd jobs as she finds them. Despite the financial insecurity, Isa is stable and resolutely optimistic. Marie (Regnier) is a loner as well, but an introvert and sullenly rebellious. The girls share an apartment and Marie begins a half-hearted affair with sleazy bouncer Charly. Isa's and Marie's complexities are gradually revealed thorugh their friendsip and their affairs with others. Especially poignant is Isa's growing obsession with a girl from their apartment building who is lying comatose in the hospital. Zonca has crafted a film that is wrenchingly authentic. Shot in realist fashion with rugged production values, much of it street-level hand-held camera, the gritty spirit of the two personalities shines through.