Long before Robin Campillo took to the streets of Paris to defend AIDS patients, he was a brat living on a French military base in Madagascar; It was a balloon that seemed like paradise to him at the time, and which he would remember bitterly over time. And after those childhood years, he plays the leading role in the first feature film he directed. ‘120 beats per minute’, The film that introduced him internationally and in which he revived that activist youth. Participating in the competition at the San Sebastián Festival today, ‘Red Island’ evokes both the end of a childhood and the past by intertwining memories and fantasies with political events. Colonial illusion on the African island.
On paper, Madagascar had been an independent republic for 12 years in 1972, but continued to allow the presence of the French military to support local governments. For practical purposes yes, the French army did little more than enjoy themselves parties, barbecues and beach trips while maintaining a position of superiority over the population and socially accepted exploitation. Campillo recreates this reality through the eyes of Thomas, his little ‘alternate self’ who does not understand the true meaning and repercussions of life around him and often takes refuge in the world of fantasy.
And it does this through a gradual succession of scenes in which no major events apparently take place, but an initially nostalgic appearance emerges. a call against colonialism As Malagasy men and women gradually take over the narrative of the film. Campillo, meanwhile, wraps this false paradise in melancholy, accurately capturing the beauty of silences and glances and the infinite sadness that lurks behind a seemingly banal family photo.
The autobiographical is also the starting point for the second feature film. Kei Chika-uraAnother one of the films that aspired for the Golden Shell this year. ‘The Great Absence’ Inspired by the Japanese filmmaker’s experiences witnessing his father’s struggle with dementia, it tells the story of a man’s journey through lost memories and vital fragments in order to repair his relationship with his ailing parent. The director changes the past and present in a way that not only emphasizes his extraordinary ability to express with images, but also clearly reveals the extent of this talent. our memories, both tender and painful, they break over time. Meanwhile, there is no need to compromise on tremendismo to remind us of the pain that mental decline creates not only in the living, but also in their loved ones.