Festival delivers an intimate epic BPM (Beats Per Minute) (M)
143 mins ★★★★
Winner of four awards at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and six Cesars recently, Moroccan-born Robin Campillo’s 1990s-set drama is bestdescribed as an intimate epic.
It follows the fortunes of the Paris chapter of Aids activist group Act Up, chronicling their ‘‘war’’ against the likes of the French government’s AFLS and pharmaceutical company Melton, which they blame for delays in the fight against the virus.
But as the protest-hardened and hard-partying Act Up members debate approaches and take their fight to the streets and boardrooms, they must also battle dwindling membership as the deadly disease takes it’s toll (‘‘How many T4 cells have you got left?’’ becomes a constant refrain at their weekly meetings).
With its initial emphasis on establishing characters and a sense of space and place, Campillo’s compelling narrative is something of a slow-burner. However, thanks also to a terrific commitment to naturalistic lighting and hand-held cameras, that focus pays off in spades come the final third of the film. That’s when the focus shifts away from the activism and onto the burgeoning star-crossed romance between Sean (Nahuel Pe´rez Biscayart) and Nathan (Arnaud Valois).
As his own mother poignantly states, Sean is a person who lives politics ‘‘in the first person’’, but in meeting Act Up newcomer Nathan he finally finds someone who he can let his guard down to and be vulnerable. Which is exactly how audiences may feel after this emotional rollercoaster.
– James Croot
❚ BPM
is screening as part of the 2018 Alliance Francaise French Film Festival. For more information, see frenchfilmfestival.co.nz