The festival takes off with, as far as we are concerned, three films that are very different from one another. The first comes to us from Orban’s Hungary, the second from the France of the AIDS years, and the third is a funny Swedish film (oxymoron?).
Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczo (Hungary)
A young Syrian migrant, Aryaan, is shot as he crosses the border. Wounded, he discovers he has the power to levitate. Thrown into a refugee camp, he escapes with the help of the contentious Dr. Stern, who wants to exploit the young man’s extraordinary gift.
This fantastic story shows us that even in post-Soviet Hungarian society (Europe, where are you?), weakened by the massive arrival of migrants and dominated by the sinister Orban, there is a small space for humanity to come first. Through the evolution of Dr. Stern’s character, Mundruczo even allows us to hope that the arrival of migrants can help make our society better. So why not believe in it a little with him?
120 Beats per Minute, Robin Campillo (France)
In the 1990s, while AIDS had been killing for nearly a decade, Act Up activists multiplied actions and fought in general indifference. Newcomer Nathan, who is not sick, falls in love with Sean, who moves him deeply through activism that consumes his last strength.
The first two-thirds of this rather long film (2 hours 20 minutes) have the power of a true documentary about the AIDS years, plunging the viewer into the world of Act Up activists, these activists of a cause minimized when not scorned by society. Robin Campillo’s film (the author of “Les Revenants,” which inspired the beautiful series) makes us think about how this period, so close in time, is already so distant in our minds.
The last part is a tragic love story that transitions us abruptly and unceremoniously into the intimate, which makes us understand the desperate radicalism of Act Up activists.
Heart-wrenching.
The Square, Ruben Östlund (Sweden)
Christian is the curator of a contemporary art museum. He considers himself a humanist and is preparing his next exhibition titled “The Square,” centered around an installation encouraging visitors to altruism. But it is sometimes difficult to live according to one’s values.
It took until the sixth film to finally laugh at this festival. Paradoxically, it’s to Ruben Östlund, a compatriot of Bergman and Ikea furniture, that we owe this little moment of happiness. Through the adventures of his museum director, the filmmaker takes Swedish society and its political correctness to task (“Don’t act Swedish,” a close friend tells Christian!)
Contemporary art, spectacle charity, and the obsession with “buzz” are mocked with delightful cruelty. And the least one can say is that the Swedish bourgeois bohemian, almost shamefully macho and cowardly, does not emerge unscathed from this surprising film.
It’s also a great opportunity to see American actress Elisabeth Moss in a delightful supporting role, known to us as the strategic secretary in the series “Mad Men.”
by Patrick Mottard
