BPM
offers a documentary-like glimpse into a very specific historic moment: the AIDS epidemic in the '90s and one group's attempts to
take action to stop their friends from dying, ACT-UP Paris.
The most vividly recreated scenes are the heated group discussions in their regular meetings, the political details of activism and the urgency with which they are acting as people die.
I found it less effective on a personal level; none of the characters seemed interesting or fleshed-out enough to engage me emotionally. So when the film becomes intensely personal it feels like it's still just reinforcing the political urgency of the moment.
However, at a time when cinema is largely depicting sex, and specifically anal sex, as brutal and disconnected, or just being coy about sex, BPM offers a delightfully intimate and frank depiction of anal sex, that act so central to the spread of AIDS; with care, with tenderness, with communication and with condoms.
The most vividly recreated scenes are the heated group discussions in their regular meetings, the political details of activism and the urgency with which they are acting as people die.
I found it less effective on a personal level; none of the characters seemed interesting or fleshed-out enough to engage me emotionally. So when the film becomes intensely personal it feels like it's still just reinforcing the political urgency of the moment.
However, at a time when cinema is largely depicting sex, and specifically anal sex, as brutal and disconnected, or just being coy about sex, BPM offers a delightfully intimate and frank depiction of anal sex, that act so central to the spread of AIDS; with care, with tenderness, with communication and with condoms.
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