Summary:
BPM is a fictional, French film about ACT UP Paris in the 1990s. Directed by Robin Campillo, himself a veteran
of Paris’s ACT UP, the film details the realities of being an HIV/AIDS
political action group during an era of governmental inaction and lack of recognition
of those most impacted by HIV and AIDS.
Initially, BPM focuses on the
collection of individuals who make up ACT UP Paris and how they organize
themselves to protest and advocate for greater media attention, better sexual
education, and more access to new pharmaceutical data, among a myriad of other
causes. The film eventually shifts its
focus from ACT UP as a group to two of its members, a couple, one of whom, Sean,
is struggling with AIDS and Nathan, his partner, who supports him together with
the the rest of ACT UP.
In addition to its presentation of HIV
activism, BPM documents what it meant
to be HIV positive in a world without highly active antiretroviral therapy and
where those most affected were largely ignored or even viewed with disdain. Historical references ground the film firmly
in the 1990s, including allusions to France’s infected blood scandal when
hemophiliacs were knowingly given infected blood products, discussions that led
to the initial development of protease
inhibitors, and ACT UP Paris’s 1993 protest on World AIDS Day when a large pink
condom covered the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. Contrasting with these larger historical
references are daily moments of living with HIV in this era. Members of ACT UP
are shown taking AZT and DDI around the clock (including ensuring to pack water
during a protest, in case of arrest, when they may need to take medication in
jail), regularly attending the funerals of friends who died of AIDS, and
enduring moments of homophobia from those outside of ACT UP.
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