MovieChat Forums > La vie rêvée des anges (1998) Discussion > Theme (spoilers)

Theme (spoilers)

posted 21 years ago by Lucent
9 replies | jump to latest

I thought it was interesting how Marie seemed to win all the arguments, but you still knew Isa was right. Her "wasting her time with a dead girl" said a lot about her. I think the theme is that life is all about attitude. The same attitude that made Isa do unbeneficial, sappy things like write in a comatose girl's diary also helped her withstand the trials of life that destroyed callous, temperamental Marie.

Was that Sandrine at the sewing machine in the long shot just before the credits?

[–] HarmenB 21 years ago

I don't think that was Sandrine, she looked way younger in the hospital bed. Furthermore, I think Sandrine was still too ill to work.

I felt the theme of the movie was how one handles life. Are you satisfied and trying to make the best of it, like Isa, or are you unhappy and having unrealistic ambitions? Marie clearly couldn't handle her situation.

[–] wco81 19 years ago

Early on, Marie says she doesn't get stuck on guys, they're a pain or something when Isa asks her if she had a boyfriend.

Then they start trying to talk to guys at the mall and they corner one guy and Isa asks him if class differences would matter to him or if love trumps those differences.

Marie sleeps with Charlie but isn't into him. She thinks her mother is a victim for taking abuse from her father ("a jerk") all these years. But she ends up falling for a jerk too.

[–] bellenoiseuse 18 years ago

I agree, the main theme is the different ways of looking at, and handling life.

I just thought of something else. Isa doesn't sleep with Fredo, because she's not really into him. Meanwhile, Marie, the "cynical", damaged one, sleeps with a guy she is not into, even though he is really very sweet, and later she lets herself fall into this totally unhealthy thing with Chris-the-jerk. What does that say about the two girls differences in their handling of physical relationships?? I think there is something here... a message... I'm pondering it. Any thoughts?

[–] Timbob87 17 years ago

I think there's more to it than simply not being into Fredo. Marie is clearly heterosexual, but I think we're asked to question Isa's sexuality. Not only does she not have a lover or mention a boyfriend throughout the film, she seems very concerned with Marie's lovers. I think it's entirely possible that her feelings for Marie (before things go sour) are perhaps deeper than you'd think...

[–] vanillainflux 17 years ago

sometimes people sleep with people to try and fill the emptyness they feel (never works, but we still fall into the trap). fredo was clearly expressing feelings for marie, and marie, thinking, why not, 1)i have nothing better to do 2)i need affection; a girl that reclusive, takes affection where she can get it (and probably doesn't think she deserves better..which is why she falls for the richboy who clearly treats her like she's nothing)
of course these are all of my interpretations.
isabelle on the other hand, is presented as a more of a...she's the type of girl who prefers to see the positive side of things (selling cards in the streets isn't begging, it's a way of getting money, she prefers to remember the fling she had with a married man, fondly, even though he was using her) whether she consciously adopts the 'ignorance is bliss' motto, or whether she IS blissfully ignorant, i'm not sure. but as for her sexuality..she's so childish and sweet, it's hard to imagine her sexually. but it's possible there were bisexual overtones (the short hair, the kinda tomboy look going on, and you can't say Marie was the walking incarnation of femininity either, she's kind of butch in her own right)
it's funny because even though isabelle seems like the disturbed/unstable one (the hair, the look, the life; fatherless and a vagabond) it is actually marie who is more 'messed up' ..so much so, she ends up comitting suicide.

it's a dirty world Reich, say what you want

[–] howtragic 17 years ago

I have not seen this movie in years. Both girls basically have the same life prospects, but they find different ways of dealing with them. Marie put all her hopes in dreams into a guy, even though she knew (intellectually) that it would never work. Isabelle put her hopes in dreams into Sandrine. Marie hedged her bets on the superficial and Isabelle hedged her bets on something much bigger and more beautiful than just getting out of the life she had. Marie chose to die - Isabelle chose to live. In the end nothing special happened to Isabelle - she went right back to working in the factory. But at the same time she still felt that she had a reason on this earth. She decided to put her emotions into this girl who would never give anything back to her. Marie put her emotions into a "player". They both took the leap and invested all their hopes in dreams into one, small thing. One chose well, the other did not.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] finethen 18 years ago

I wondered the same thing about the last shot. The camera held on to that last girl for noticeably longer than the others, and that girl was noticeably younger than the others as well. I guess it's unlikely that it was Sandrine, but maybe an allusion to her being on her way to recovery, soon to be working somewhere just like Isa(for better or for worse).

Brilliant film.

[–] Emil_Mooiweer 14 years ago

I thought that maybe the woman we see after Isa in the last shots were her, years from now..To show she has settled down and stoped searching for something else.. I know it is not sure at all.. just thought the odler woman looked like Isa, and i think it fits the ending quite good.