The Dreamlife Of Angels

By RICHARD CORLISS

The vagabonding Isa (Elodie Bouchez) meets Marie (Natacha Regnier) on an assembly line in Lille. It's hard work. But friendship is a tougher job, as this haunting first feature proves. Isa is defiantly sunny, her pal severe, volcanic. Isa tries awful things (like a job handing out flyers on rollerskates) because, hey, they could be "tres cool"; Marie endures awful things (like an affair with a bourgie creep) to confirm her dour view of the world. The stars shared the Best Actress prize at Cannes last year, and both are brilliant. But Bouchez's expressive face lets you speed-read each of a dozen moods in a few seconds. That's innate screen genius.

--R.C.