The Magnetics: A rock film with joyful nostalgia (review)

An initiatory story in the heart of France in the early 1980s. That of pirate radio. A remarkable first film by Vincent Maël Cardona.

The Magneticswhich received the SACD prize from the Quinzaine des Cinéastes in 2021, will be broadcast this evening on France 4, as well as in replay on the France Télévisions website. First warmly recommends this first film, carried by two impressive young actors: Marie Colomb and Thimothée Robart, of whom we also offer an interview.

arie Colomb in Les Magnétiques: “I fell in love with this scenario”

The Magnetics offers a journey back 30 years. 1981. A small provincial town. Two brothers, the shy Philippe (Thimotée Robart, incandescent) in the shadow of the charismatic Jérôme devoured by his inner demons. My father's garage. The threat of compulsory military service. A pirate radio installed in the attic of a bar. This is the basis of this first feature awarded at the Directors' Fortnight on which Vincent Maël Cardona deploys a very rich story in which each component harmoniously nourishes the other. An initiatory story in the footsteps of Philippe who will discover the uncontrollable impulses of his heart (he falls in love with his brother's girlfriend…) and fully live out his passion for playing with sounds by making radio. A story of friendship during his military service in Berlin which will allow him to grow up, far from the family shocks. A sensory film that fills our eyes and ears with happiness, shot with the lenses of the time to recreate the atmosphere, to the sound of the new wave and punk wave that was breaking. This puzzle is brilliantly orchestrated by Cordona, culminating in a scene which alone justifies the journey into these Magnetic when Philippe, in a radio studio in Berlin, starts playing with the sounds live to declare his love for his brother's girlfriend. Like this sublime moment, The Magnetics is an exciting film which offers a shot of nostalgia all the stronger as the awakening to the world of this young hero collides with the end of this world in which he evolves.

Trailer :

Thimotée Robart: “I approach the acting profession with great caution”