The film was the highlight of the last Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix of the Jury, the Fipresci of international critics, and the Queer Palm. The moving drama “120 Beats per Minute” by Robin Campillo lost the Palme d’Or by a single vote, 5 to 4, to the original but not-so-significant Swedish satire on contemporary art, “The Square,” directed by Ruben Östlund.
With a feverish and energetic style, “120 Beats per Minute” tells the story of Act Up (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), an international organization founded in New York by Larry Kramer in 1987 to fight AIDS and known for its spectacular actions, such as covering the obelisk at Place de la Concorde with a giant condom in 1993 (Act Up-Paris was created in 1989). Its slogan ‘Silence = Death, Dance = Life’ became famous worldwide.
The precise screenplay offers a unique narrative space to two members of the organization, Sean and Jérémie (Nahuel Perez Biscayart and Ariel Borestein, highly expressive), who fall in love amidst passionate meetings, and to the group’s interventionist spirit, the beautiful Sophie (Adèle Haenel, simply perfect).
One understands the urgency of awakening political attention to a social plague ignored by the government and exploited by pharmaceutical companies: “Act Up is very small,” director Robin Campillo said at Cannes, “but there were meetings with 150-200 people coming together every week.
People had no choice: to make things progress, they had to gather. The film does not give advice but aims to remember this gathering of people who would never have met if not for this epidemic. They created a discourse, actions, and a rather powerful political force together.
Act Up achieved victories. It was born out of a very strong, incandescent need.”
“120 Beats per Minute” has a lot of rhythm and tension marked by the cult song “Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat – the 2h 20m runtime is absolutely necessary – and captures the viewer’s attention from the first minutes.
And finally, it restores a sort of ‘political’ dignity to Gay Prides by freeing them from a carnival-like aura acquired over time.
Roberto Schinardi
