When does childhood end? At adolescence? When we reach legal age? Of course, it’s not really a sudden shift so much as a process over a period of time. Red Island, directed by Robert Campillo, looks at the question in a semi-autobiographical reflection. A child begins to see that the adults in his life may not be perfect or heroes.
Thomas (Chalie Vauselle) is a shy eight year old. He lives in on a French military base in Madagascar in the early 1970s. His parents (Nadia Tereszkiewicz, Quim Gutiérrez) and their friends relish their time in what seems like a tropical paradise. Their lives are mostly lived out on base where they have created what they see as a Gallic village. They party frequently, usually after Thomas has been sent off to bed, but he doesn’t always stay there.
Thomas and his friend Suzanne (Cathy Pham) are fascinated by a superhero, Fantômette. Fantômette sees things that others might not. She is always alert. Thomas tries to emulate Fantômette to try to see beyond what others see. It is hard to know how he interprets what he observes of his parents and their cohort. We, however, can see that there are cracks in the relationships.
There are few references to what goes on outside the gates of the base. Although we do know that there are rebellions taking place in some parts of the country, and near the end of the film we learn that the French will be returning home (not to the French families’ delight).
This may not be the end of Thomas’s childhood, but it may be the beginning of the end. His life in this somewhat artificial environment of this military base will be over. We also get clues that his family may also be coming to an end.
There is a section at the end, which really doesn’t fit with the rest of the film, because it takes place outside the base with locals instead of the French. It points to the coming change in the government of Madagascar. The locals sing a song about the end of childhood and the coming of adolescence and being able to make bad choices. That song struck me as the wrong in a film done by a former colonizer. It seems paternalistic for a French person to speak of the Malagasy at this point in their history.
Red Island is in limited release.
Photos courtesy of Film Movement.
