Director: Robin Campillo
Running Time: 143 mins
Certificate: 15
Release Date: April 6th 2018 (UK)
120 BPM has been eliciting praise ever since it debuted at Cannes last year, including winning the Grand Prix and Queer Palm at the festival. It’s gone on to win multiple other awards, including Best Film at the Cesar Awards (France’s equivalent of the Oscars). It was also France’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, although sadly it missed out on a nomination.
Written and directed by Robin Campillo (who also made the very good Eastern Boys), 120 BPM is a fictionalised take on the true story of the AIDS activist organisation, ACT UP Paris. Campillo and co-screenwriter Philippe Mangeot were involved with ACT UP themselves, helping to give the movie an authenticity and power it may otherwise have lacked. Thankfully though, despite being close to the story Campillo is objective enough to be able to acknowledge the flaws and problems within the organisation, while also having a clear-eyed view of why these things happened. This allows it to be a powerful and empathetic testament to both ACT UP and those who were/are affected by AIDS, without becoming hagiography. [Read more…]
Robin Campillo’s movie has gained a lot of buzz since its Cannes debut. At the festival the movie won the Queer Palm for the best LGBT movie, the prestigious Fipresci award for the best film at the festival from the International Federation of Film Critics, and second biggest award at the fest, the Grand Prix. It was then chosen as France’s Oscar contender for the Besti Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
The Cesar Awards are France’s version of the Oscars, honouring the very best in Gallic cinema. This year the big winner was BPM (aka 120 battements par minute/120 Beats Per Minute), which picked up the Best Film Award, long with five other gongs. That included Best Original Screenplay for the movie’s writer/director, Robin Campillo, and Best New Actor for Nahuel Perez Biscayart.
AKA 120 Beats Per Minute, Robin Campillo’s movie has gained a lot of buzz since its Cannes debut. At the festivals the movie won the Queer Palm for the best LGBT movie, the prestigious Fipresci award for the best film at the festival from the International Federation of Film Critics, and second biggest award at the fest, the Gran Prix. It’s since been chosen as France’s Oscar contender for the Besti Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
One of the movies in competition at Cannes this year is 120 Beats Per Minute, from Eastern Boys helmer, Robin Campillo. The film is a bit of a love letter to ACT UP, the HIV/AIDS activist group that Campillo himself was involved with himself during his youth. While we normally hear about what ACT UP did in the US, this movie focuses on the grassroots organisation in France.
From Robin Campillo the celebrated writer of Palm d’Or winner The Class and creator of The Returned, comes his highly acclaimed second dramatic feature film, the thriller Eastern Boys. Peccadillo Pictures releases the film in the UK on December 5th, so it’s the perfect time to take a look at the trailer.