Les Magnétiques
The early 1980s: there is a burst of post-punk creativity in the cultural landscape – a rebellious DIY energy which seeps into everything from rock music, to publishing, to pirate radio. It is this latter which provides an outlet for brothers Philippe (Thimotée Robart) and Jerome (Joseph Olivennes), an escape from the provincial backwater in Brittany where they live in prickly disharmony with their father.
Breton-born director Vincent Maël Cardona crafts a vividly drawn love letter to analogue technology and captures a moment in cultural history poised on the brink of seismic change. When called for the military service, Philippe has no choice but to leave for West Berlin. He is determined to keep on broadcasting, but realizes that he just lived the last glorious moments of a world on the verge of extinction.
Inventively glitchy sound design and a well-chosen soundtrack bring a distinctive personality to a film which combines a coming-of-age story, a love triangle and a persuasive sense of time and place. Charismatic young actors in the central roles - Olivennes is the son of Kristin Scott Thomas - will add to the film’s appeal both to further festival audiences and, potentially younger audiences.
