120 Battements par Minute
Trailer
Available
Kanopy (some territories), SBS On Demand (Oz), AmazonPrime
English Titles
BPM
Year
2016
Director
Robin Campillo
Synopsis
Early 1990s. With AIDS having already claimed countless lives for nearly ten years, Act Up-Paris activists multiply actions to fight general indifference. Nathan, a newcomer to the group, has his world shaken up by Sean, a radical militant.
Honours/Awards
Nominée Au César 2018 De La Meilleure Actrice Dans Un Second Rôle
Adèle’s role
Sophie, ACT UP organiser and pollster.
Excerpts from reviews
“Adèle Haenel is so good in her supporting role that you wish her character gained more definition…”
“Those who saw last year’s BPM (Beats per Minute), Robin Campillo’s pulsating drama about the Paris branch of ACT UP in the early 1990s, will never forget Adèle Haenel. She plays Sophie, the headstrong dyke member of the activist group. Fury burns in her gleaming green eyes. Her whistle at the ready, Sophie—tall, toned, physically solid—leads her comrades as they storm the headquarters of a drug company and shout, “Melton Pharm, assassin!” At one of the coalition’s weekly meetings, fake blood still staining her T-shirt, she vents her frustration with the improvised tactics of some of her confreres at an action carried out earlier that day. At another of those assemblies, she demonstrates how to jam a fax machine. She lustily smooches a cute brunette with a Caesar cut. She’s one of the best gyrators of her mostly gay-male cohort on the dance floor, transported by house-music beats.
Haenel rivets without ever upstaging any of her castmates in this electric ensemble production. BPM, which was voted the best foreign-language film of 2017 by both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, is likely her best-known movie in the US to date. But the actress, born in Paris in 1989 and now seventeen years into her career, is easily the most renowned in France among her BPM co-stars, several of whom made their screen debut in the film. Whether veteran or novice, though, most of BPM’s actors share one trait: They are out.”
“We begin with a meeting of Act Up in a brightly lit classroom. Sophie (the gutsy Adèle Haenel) talks new members through their aims and processes.”
“Campillo's style is usually naturalistic, and the superb ensemble cast's performances are entirely unaffected. At first, meeting coordinators Sophie (Adèle Haenel) and Thibault (Antoine Reinartz) stand out.”
“I’m glad that BPM documents the importance not only of HIV-negative ACT UP members like Nathan, but more so the importance of women (straight or lesbian) to the movement. The movie captures the giddy/scary energy of ACT UP’s protests, spattering balloons full of fake blood on the walls of a big pharm corporate office, or sudden confrontations with a tipped-off police force. “That didn’t last long,” says Sophie (Adèle Haenel, whom the camera loves) as she and her comrades are packed into a police wagon before they can even reach the sidewalk for their latest demonstration.”
Comments
This is a great film for so many reasons (Adèle being one of them). But, beyond her brilliant acting and contributions to the film, it is important, now more than ever in the time of COVID-19, that more people, including young queer people, learn more about 1980s & 1990s and the battles that were fought so that HIV/AIDS could be treated & managed, as it is now (if you are in a first world country…). It is part of our queer culture and our history.
A small history lesson
COVID-19 is killing many people, but it is not as devastating as HIV. 770,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2018. In 2000 there were 1.4 million AIDS-related deaths. About 32 million people have died through the AIDS epidemic (to the end of 2018). For much of this time most people didn’t see it as a crisis, as ‘only gays and junkies’ got sick. The care factor was close to zero in much of mainstream society. The response of some sectors of society to the COVID-19 pandemic reminded me of this, as the response from some was ‘only old people’ will die. It is the same response—not giving a damn because some ‘other’ and unvalued (by the people saying this) group is impacted, not you, so you can go on with your life… [END OF RAVE]
I am in Australia & I am proud of the response of the Australian government to HIV/AIDS. A little Australian history: The politicians stood back and let the scientists & doctors make the decisions, with community organisations being a vital part of the process. Moral judgements were not taken into account—evidence & science were the basis for policy & action. Clean needles were freely available, there was heaps of information in the gay press, free condoms and dams were given out at every event, and AIDS educators went out to beats so they could educate the not-gay-but-having-sex-with-men-at-the-beat demographic. For the general public there were powerful television ads that made it clear that it wasn’t a ‘gay disease’ and that everyone was at risk (ad below). It is made clear in BPM, and this was news to me, that France did not have this enlightened approach to confronting a health, not a moral, crisis.
Here is an interview with director Robin Campillo about being a gay man in the 1980s. Campillo was active in Paris ACT UP, the group depicted in BPM. It is an article worth reading.
Here is an interview with director Robin Campillo about being a gay man in the 1980s. Campillo was active in Paris ACT UP, the group depicted in BPM. It is an article worth reading.
Back to the BPM
This is a great film with a strong ensemble cast, which again demonstrates Adèle’s lack of ego when choosing roles. All the cast are out actors and Adèle, while always wonderful, shows her team player credentials by never overshadowing anyone. In this role she plays a dyke so very well! In some other roles she may be a lesbian, but in this role she is a dyke (gouine). The way she smiles when her girlfriend comes to the lecture theatre for a kiss—it melts my heart…
Australian anti-HIV/AIDS Ads for the general public
These were on television frequently. Ads in the gay press targeted that demographic.
The 'Grim Reaper' TV ad
'How many people are you going to bed with?' TV ad
Rewatch Notes
This is a powerful film—documenting political activism, a love story, friendship, the cathartic power of dancing to loud music, and loss. The characters are not represented as flawless; they each have their issues and sometimes difficult relationships within ACT UP Paris are not papered over, but are there for each other in times of crisis. The ensemble cast are all fabulous; there are no weak performers on the team.
Adéle, as Sophie, the ACT UP organiser & pollster (her day job), is fabulous. I just love Sophie and her whistle. She plays this role with a real physicality and with the, quite reasonable, anger of an activist. She gives the impression that you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Sophie! She also gives us a glimpse the tender side of Sophie at Sean's mother's apartment. The film celebrates the power of getting together and dancing to loud music to forget all the battles and traumas and just celebrate being young and alive. We see some great dancing from Adèle. (I keep meaning to put together a vid of her dancing moments in her films. Well, with the exception of the dance scene in the Name of My Daughter perhaps...).
This isn't a leading role, but her generosity in choosing to be a part of a number ensemble films (L'Apollonide, Les Ogres, BPM, and, soon, Un Peuple son Roi) shows her commitment to choose projects on a basis rather than ego.
Some nice images from the film...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please share your thoughts about or response to the film.