Jennifer Moyer OK, the subject matter is awful. Woman is so far gone from society that even her "friends" don't look for her when she dies and sits in her apartment for 3 years. The social commentary alone is hard and we should really look at ourselves.But, the movie itself is awful. The way it was filmed was just bad. I grew tired of listening to her so-called "friends" talk about how great she was. Yeah, that's why you went looking for her when you didn't hear from her for 3 years. Hope I never have friends like that. The film made it sound like this woman's family had nothing to do with her. When, in reality, they hired a PI to find her AND were at the inquest into her death. More than her "friends" did. The majority of the film focused on the actress playing Joyce and speculating on what she did. They should have included more of the medical examiner's report, forensics, the friends and why they let her down, and her family. Instead, I was left with more questions. I got more answers from a quick Google search. Just look up the story and read about it instead.

davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Joyce Vincent's skeleton was found in her London bedsit three years after she died, surrounded by wrapped Christmas presents and with the TV still on in the background. Despite once having a fairly active social life, she clearly masked deep rooted insecurities to those around her, some of whom provide talking head perspectives here. These may have driven her to make some bad decisions and mix with the wrong people, drifting apart from those who really cared about her. Film maker Carol Morley attempts to piece together the events leading up to her death, trying to create a picture of who this woman was and how she came to meet such a lonely, desperate end.It's testament to what a crazy, twenty four hour news world we live in that Joyce Vincent's story, as mind blowing and heart breaking as it is, is the type of thing you could read about in some rag like The Sun and then just put to the back of your mind faster than Jack Robinson. But however much you think about it, the idea of a woman lying dead in her home for three years with not a single friend or family member coming round to check on her or noticing she was gone will always make you wonder what kind of world we're living in, especially with so much more to hand than in years gone by.As off putting as the thought of it is, the tone of the film should really be as dark and down beat as it can be, since it's such a desperately sad, shaming true life tale, but of course this would make it inaccessible to some, and it works more that Morley balances her work with more soulful, melancholy interludes in between the more dour, desperate moments. We learn of a confident, bubbly woman who could be the life and soul of any party, but who clearly carried deep, dark insecurities around with her and who failed to display much of a personality of her own, preferring to latch on to the close friends and people she had around her.With the limited amount of material she has to work with, new comer Zawe Ashton brings Joyce to life in as colourful and under stated a way as she can, always at her best in alone, private moments when her passion and talent as a singer really comes to life, only for nothing to come of this. As Robert De Niro once stated in a film of his, there's nothing sadder than wasted talent and while these are very wise words, the film shows how a vulnerable, insecure personality can inadvertently make this so.Morley has crafted a haunting, desperately sad tale that shows even in the 21st century we still live in more of an atomised, apart society than we'd care to admit and that maybe we don't care about each other as much as we ought to. ***

PoppyTransfusion The film's UK release date coincided with Christmas 2011, which was deliberate as the subject of the film, Joyce Carol Vincent, died from causes unknown shortly before Christmas 2003. Her body was not discovered until January 2007 when bailiffs acting on behalf of a housing association arrived at her flat with a repossession order as her rent had not been paid for 3 years. Questions were asked by her local MP, Lynne Featherstone (who appears in the film), as to how it was possible that her death had been unnoticed by anyone during the three-year period. The unusual and poignant nature of Joyce's demise led the film maker, Carol Morley, to begin investigating who Joyce had been and how she had been so abandoned in death. The film is the result of her efforts to piece together Joyce Carol Vincent.Not long before her death we learn that Joyce was hospitalised for a peptic ulcer; she listed her next-of-kin at the hospital as her bank manager describing him as the person who knew her best. Yet the film features people from her life - ex-boyfriends, flat mates, friends, ex-colleagues - that she could have called upon. Although it is easy to believe that the circumstances of her death and body's subsequent discovery were the fault of a society whose care for its members has unravelled Al, one of Joyce's ex-boyfriends, states in the film that Joyce had some responsibility for her demise by pulling away and isolating herself from those who knew and cared about her. Beneath the sociological comment the film offers is a more profound study in Joyce's character and the tragedy that befell her. Indeed it seems as though a combination of traumas in her life had led Joyce, a great keeper of secrets, to isolate herself completely.The film is an amazing production as the director, Morley, combines documentary style interviews, which flow naturally from the subjects, combined with a fictional account of Joyce's life informed by the interviews but fictionalised at other points. What is even more remarkable is that Morley painstakingly unearthed all the interviewees, pictures, film footage, sound recordings etc as none were available to the authorities in the aftermath of Joyce's death. The film also features Morley's montage of Joyce's time line from birth to death and what she discovers of events along the way. Interestingly Joyce's family did not want to be involved with the making of the film, wishing to remain anonymous. Amongst the many things that Joyce Carol Vincent did in her life was to meet Nelson Mandela and the film ends with actual footage of Mandela addressing a small musical gathering at which Joyce was present and we see her on film. She was an unusual person, possessed of talents most of which were never realised. As one interviewee remarks (her ex-boyfriend Al) she never seemed to have a future and did not seem fully invested in life. The title is a play on both Joyce sleepwalking through life as well as the dream imagined for the viewer of Joyce's life.Joyce sings during the film a song the refrain of which is 'my smile is a frown upside down'. She really reminds me of the man in Stevie Smith's poem 'Not Waving But Drowning', who "was much further out than you thought and not waving but drowning ... I was much too far out all my life ..."

trpuk1968 I like the comments from another reviewer, about how ms Vincent didn't fit in easily, neither the Black, nor Asian community and encountering racism from her white boyfriend Martin's parents. I was fascinated to watch this having lived in Wood Green myself during the early nineties and I remember vividly during the course of my training in one of the caring professions visiting a client in the very same block of flats where Joyce died. Its a strange building, a walkway above a car park, sitting on top of a shopping centre and very anonymous. No one passing by and, from Wood Green High street, you would never imagine there are homes above this shopping centre. Apparently the housing association have reviewed their procedures after Joyce was three years in arrears with her rent. Knowing how inept and useless many big organisations are its easy to see how someone in social housing could get into big rent arrears. Someone in the organisation has to notice, then they have to consult a manager, then they have to have a meeting, then they have to refer it to a committee, then there's another meeting, then they have to check with the social services... Still, there must have been a power cut at some stage in the three years. Who was paying the electricity bills if the TV was still on? Why wasn't the electricity cut off? Things don't add up. If Joyce had contact with professionals dealing with domestic violence, there must be case records. Were the police ever called to an incident? Did Joyce use aliases? I ve hear a couple of theories, one is this whole film is an elaborate hoax. The other is she was murdered by someone with a key to her flat and the murderer went to great lengths to cover their tracks. The housing association could answer some of these questions, such as confirming there really was a Joyce Vincent housed by them. Also, many housing associations will only issue one set of keys to tenants, special keys which you cannot copy at a regular locksmiths. Someone needs to check this story out. It would not be the first time a national newspaper like The Sun was duped by a hoax. I m not saying it IS a hoax, just that it might be... Finally, I saw this at the Odeon and while I encourage anyone to watch it, you won t lose anything by waiting for the DVD. Cinema tickets can be pricey these days and Dreams of a Life is perfectly good watched on the small screen.