Dreams of a Life

One sleepless night, laying down, bored with my ipad, I decided to get on Netflix and watch something...anything

While searching through my queue of endless films I came across a documentary that sort of caught my eye. Dreams of a Life.

Before I get into this film let me apologize beforehand for any grammatical errors, or if I seem overzealous in my writing. But this film left such a POWERFUL impact on me that I am left speechless.

Dreams of a Life is a film about a beautiful lady named Joyce Carol Vincent. Born 1965 this film/documentary left my heart racing, and my tears flowing. This documentary was so odd, somewhat satisfying, and left me asking more questions and drawing my own conclusions. Joyce was found dead in her London flat in 2003 after mysteriously going unnoticed for 3 whole years. Her television was still on and her body surrounded by half wrapped Christmas presents. How does a body decompose for 3 years strait in an apartment  with the television still on surrounded by neighbors? And on top of that her neighbors complained of a foul odor that seemed to have lingered in that area.

How bizarre is that? but what left me more bewildered was not so much how she died, but how she lived. The film talks to colleagues of Joyce, and former lovers/boyfriends and people who THOUGHT they knew her. Joyce undoubtedly was a very beautiful woman, as described by her friends all the men fell at her feet. She seemed very social to a certain extent but nevertheless had a pretty decent life and job. But somehow she slipped into non-existence, locked herself in her flat, and died.

What I found interesting about the film was that her friends and former boyfriends seemed to learn more about Joyce while the audience was learned about who Joyce was.  I was shocked by how little they knew about someone they seemed to be able to describe so immaculately. There was some points in this film where I had to pause and take a deep breath and think for a few minutes before proceeding on watching. That's how impactfull it was for me hearing about this very enigmatic woman who seemed a lot like me....

I mean, so many questions come up through out this film as I am watching it and the more I think the more bizarre  and strange her life seems. I had chills under my skin when at some points in the film, she seemed to come back to life. It was an intense realization that this person who almost seemed too perfect for words, was no longer with us. And had died and decayed for 3 years unnoticed.  3 YEARS! Again I ask, HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

I strongly suggest that people watch this film when they get a chance. I wasn't prepared for this film when I first watched it, I was not prepared for how obsessed I would become with Joyce's life, death, existence.  I wanted more answers and I needed to find out more. But like I said the more I seemed to ask the worse it made it. Like an itch you couldn't scratch. That's how  frustrating this was for me. As you do some research about Joyce you will start to gain some more revelations about her life and her unfortunate demise, some questions will be answered some will still linger. But it's important to learn something from this film. What did it teach you? What did it teach me?

I can't even put into words how this documentary impacted me. I dedicate this blog to Joyce and the life that she did live. I dedicate this blog to those who suffer with some sort of mental disorder and are recluse. I dedicate this to her 3 years of non-existence.



Links to the website where you cant get more information about the film
 http://dreamsofalife.com/

Joyce wikipedia page:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Carol_Vincent

more thoughts:
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/joyce%20carol%20vincent