I've discovered Robin Campillo's film '120 BPM' not that long ago - shame on me. But I have a good reason, which was to let this ridiculous trendy wave go, full of people who went to see it because it won a prize at Cannes festival. I hate being surrounded by people who talk about a film without really caring.
I seriously got a coup de coeur for this movie, who took my heart and soul and made dust from them. I have, without exaggerating, spent at least a month talking about it everyday to my friends and my family. I knew it would happen the moment when my neighbour in the cinema gave me a tissue because she saw how upset I was. Terrible.
The story focuses on ACT UP PARIS, the very famous French branch from the ACT UP NEW YORK association. All along the film, you can see their posters, tee shirt, actions, but I was seriously disappointed because of the visuals made for the film. What happened to this punchy ACT UP identity? Where it is? They used the pink triangle on the DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and the soundtrack CD, and that's it. No pink triangle anywhere else in the identity.
I had to do something - this is my activist mind talking here haha. I took this triangle as the ACT UP triangle / gay triangle, but also as the PLAY symbol, representing the music; which is, more than being important all along the film, included in the name of it.
120 BPM. It says everything.
I also wanted to represent the night on one poster for the film, because it is a really important moment all along the story: the moment when the characters dance, cry, have sex, got exposed to HIV, and also die. During the day, they act, but during the night, they are true to themselves.
If you still haven't seen this movie, do it as soon as possible. I hope these new visuals and this text will influence you. :)
