This is really a genius piece of work from a band that should of been bigger, but due to the tragic suicide of the lead singer and bassist Richie Lee, their popularity was cut short to word of mouth, or in this case, word of blog.
It took me a while to really understand this album and I beleive that Acetone have more instantly likeable songs from their other releases, but this album was discovered at a time in my life where I was listening to artist that would become really influential on me such as Bedhead, Pavement, The Handsome Family and The Velvet Underground. All this music kind of stopped for a while and I went through a phase of not listening to music at all, untill I stopped sulking about shit and started to listen to stuff again. One of the albums that got me back into music again was this one.
I think the first thing anyone will realize when they listen to this album for the first time is how loud the songs could potentially be, but instead, it is a very quiet album full of loud songs. The guitar and bass work is without a doubt some of the most under appreciated work ever. Richie Lee and Mark Lightcap blend their guitars perfectly and at times it is hard to differentiate what is guitar and what is bass. They were both great at singing and playing at the same time. Steve Hadley is the perfect time keeper for this group and it's quite clear that the three of them had known exactley what they wanted Acetone to be.
A live performance of "In The Light" which is the third track on this album
Erick Zonca spent a lot of his life (like a main character in this film, Isa) job hopping from place to place untill finally at the age 30, he entered the film making industry as he had set out to do since high school. First an apprentice, then an assistant and later on, started directing TV documentaries. It was 1992 that he produced three short films. All were successful with the festivals they were presented.
At 42, Erick directed The Dreamlife of Angels which would win various awards including Best film, best actress (Elodie Bouchez and Natacha Regnier), most promising actress (Natacha Regnier), another best actress (Elodie Bouchez) and was nomitated on the grounds of best first work, best director, best writing and best cinematography.
Isa is a drifter who is searching for her lover of whom she met in the summer. She survives by job hopping and selling cards which she makes by cutting out images of magazines. When her search for the man she met proves unsuccessful, she takes a job with a sewing factory that a man she had met the previous day offered her. There she meets Marie. The two connect sharing stories of how harshly life has treated them. Marie suggests Isa stay at the house she is living in which was occupied by a mother and a daughter who are now in hospital from being in a car crash. Isa and Marie meet up with two bouncers who work at a club called The Blue. At first having been involved with a dispute with the bouncers, Isa and Marie and the two bouncers (Charly and Fredo) befriend realizing that they are not too different from each other.
Marie eventually meets and becomes romantic with the owner of two clubs (one of which Charly and Fredo work for) called Chris. Marie, having past problems with her father, seems to have a massive chip on her shoulder for guys who mess about with girls. Marie eventually realizes that Chris is also seeing other women behind her back. At first being devastated, Marie falls into a self destructing spiral of returning to Chris for romance. In the meantime, Isa spends most of her time searching for new jobs and writing letters in a diary she discovered at the house Marie is occupying. The diary belongs to Sandrine who lived in the house with her mother but now due to the car accident, is in a coma. Isa becomes almost a friend to her by frequently visiting her in the hospital and reading entrys from her diary.
Chris visits Isa to ask her if she would do the task of breaking up with Marie for him. Isa doesn't feel this is her duty and leaves it up to Chris himself. Chris never does tell Marie that he doesn't want to see her anymore. Marie becomes anxious with getting a response back from Chris but never does. In a heated argument that seems to be about how pathetic each others lives are, Isa tells Marie that Chris came by and told her that it was over three days ago. Marie and Isa decide to go there seperate ways but soon realize that they are alone without each other. Isa returns to bid her farewell but Marie is asleep in bed. Isa decides to write her a note (which is unclear if Marie actually read or not) As Isa is leaving the house, she hears a noise which she beleives is Marie waking up, only on return does she realize that Marie had ended her life by jumping out her window.
I will insert a short clip from the movie as I can't seem to find a tralier and I have already given quite a long rundown of the film!
A beautiful film with absolutely fantastic perfomances. A lot of the scenes in this film really have the ability to jump out and affect you. One scene in paticular for me, was the first time Isa visits Sandrine in the hospital. The way Sandrine's body was draped across the bed, you wouldn't beleive you are watching an actor perform but you would infact beleive that this situation was quite real. Infact, this film was praised for the extremley accurate portrayl of a comatose patient. Though each performance in this film, really does bring a reality. Two very different girls living together both deal with their lives in their own way. Perhaps a viewer can really relate to the actions of one of the characters, and with that, we find out how hard it is to step into someone elses shoes because of the unexpected nature of the one you don't empathize with.
Creators of intensely naturalistic films about lower class life in Belgium, brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne have created a body of work since 1996 which places them clearly at the fore of contemporary Belgian cinema and among the world’s most critically respected filmmakers as well. With La promesse (The Promise) (1996), Rosetta (1999), Le fils (The Son) (2002), and L’Enfant (The Child) (2005), the Dardennes’ films are stark but modest portrayals of young people at the fringes of society – immigrants, the unemployed, the inhabitants of shelters. Both Rosetta and L’enfant were awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the only two Belgian films ever to earn the honor. -Wikipedia
I just watched the Dardenne Brother's film "La Promesse" (The Promise) which is about a teenage boy named Igor (Jérémie Renier) and his father, Roger (Olivier Gourmet) who have a secret business of housing illegal immigrants and making them work on a house for pay. Everything seems to be running smoothly untill the building inspector comes to pay them a visit. Igor trys to hurry the immigrants into hiding by making them run behind a hill towards the back of the house. In the mad rush, an immigrant named Amidou, who has recently managed to get his wife and newborn baby into the apartment's falls from the scaffold he was working on. Igor attempts to help Amidou, but Amidou is unable to get up. Amidou's last words to Igor were "Take care of my wife and child" Igor then makes the promise that will force him into fleeing from his father and his criminal business to help Amidou's wife, Assita (Assita Ouedraogo) find her way back to her husband who unbeknownst to her, had not fled to Italy because of debt, but had died days ago. Igor is not only hiding from his father, but is also hiding the truth from Assita about her husband.
This was a really nice film. Although it is set in some sort of post industrial landscape, I found the scenery quite beautiful. It has a lot of aspects I love about cinema. Subtlety, realism, hand held camera work and an abrudt ending that is open to leave the viewer to decide what happens next.
Incidentally, whilst I was flicking blindly through the foreign film section, I picked up two Dardenne brothers film. One was this one and the other was called "The Son" I chose to take this one home instead simply because it was made earlier and with any artists or directors I am discovering for the first time, I like to try their earlier works or more "unknown" works before I take on the rest of their catalog.
I can't wait to see more of The Dardenne Brothers film's.
