It's been six years since Robin Campillo was last in the news. His last feature film, 120 Battements par Minute, won the César for Best Film in 2017. His new project, L'Île Rouge, is due to hit cinemas on May 31.
This new film differs radically from the one that put him on the map. Where 120 Battements par Minutes was nervous, angry and full of life, L'Île Rouge is more contemplative, with a calmer rhythm. It's hard to guess that this is the same director, since the two films have nothing in common, apart from their autobiographical dimension. Indeed, Robin Campillo makes no secret of the fact that this film has many similarities with the filmmaker's childhood.
Yet this is not a nostalgic tale of an era he wishes to revive, but a rather bitter tale. It's the story of the French soldiers sent to Madagascar in the early 1970s to quell the local rebellion. Thomas is the youngest of three boys, whose father is a non-commissioned officer in the French army. The whole family lives on the military base, with the families of the other soldiers, forming a very special society. Scenes from daily life, a change of scenery for these exiled Frenchmen, and a family life that's a bit unique, we discover the many aspects of life on the military base, with a strange flavor.
Little Thomas finds himself in the middle of a context he doesn't understand, that of the last hours of French colonialism and the last sparks of its illusion. But that's not all: numerous themes run through the film, which also makes a few incursions into the world of Fantomette, the book the child reads throughout. These passages, somewhere between animation and live-action, are real visual gems that contribute to the film's unique atmosphere. L'Île Rouge is at times contemplative, even dreamlike, in its depiction of the lost illusions of these soldiers and children, who see everything but no one else.
It's a pity, however, that the film pulls a few too many strands, as not all are equally well handled, giving the impression that the narrative doesn't know which plot to stick to. We don't really know what story Robin Campillo wants to tell, and the result is a final sequence that's far too long-winded.
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