The absence of L'Île rouge from the Cannes selection was not a very good sign. Robin Campillo's previous film, 120 beats per minute, a feverish account of the struggle of Act Up activists in the 1990s as AIDS wreaks havoc, triumphed at Cannes (Grand Prix) and the César Awards (Best Film) in 2017. Could Campillo fail or did the festival miss out? It was necessary to judge on the basis of evidence. It's done. The film is a dud.
L'Île rouge features a family of French people in Madagascar in the 1970s, when the island has been independent for ten years. Robin Campillo drew on his childhood memories. As in the film, his father was a non-commissioned officer in the French Air Force. He and his brothers lived at Ivato Military Base 181 in Madagascar, where The Red Island was filmed.
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Robin Campillo stages his story at the height of a child. Thomas, his alter ego, accompanied by his girlfriend Suzanne, observes the adults without fully understanding what they are telling each other...
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