A French “Do the Right Thing”
This is what modern rage at injustice looks like: coming soon to a neighbourhood near you
Athena
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Athena opens outside a police station in France where French-Algerian soldier Abdul (Dali Benssalah) calls for calm in the face of a widely released video showing his 13-year old brother Idir being beaten to death by uniformed police officers. He has not even finished speaking when the movie literally explodes into violence. From there it barely pauses for breath as we are swept along on a rage fuelled tide of youth tired of racism, abuse by authority, ready to do something about it. The action quickly moves from the police station to a low income apartment housing complex called Athena where the youth have prepared to repel the police until their demands are met: the identification and arrest of the officers in the video. Athena does everything right but it’s genius is that it reveals itself to be the story of brothers not just rage at injustice. The leader of the agitators Karim (Sami Slimane) is also the dead Idir’s brother. The two living brothers are at odds. Karim, young and filled with rage demanding justice. Abdel older and a soldier, calling for calm as he try’s to balance his grief with a sense of duty and respect for authority. Also in the mix is an oldest brother Mostar (Quassini Embarek) a criminal who finds himself trapped in Athena with his drugs and guns. He is on the side of himself and just wants to save his stash before the cops come in. The majority of the movie is spent following the brothers through the unfolding chaos of a full blown riot as the police push in and the youth push back. There are quiet moments like where Abdel stumbles into a prayer vigil for Idir and is confronted by his mother and sister. These moments well physically quiet only serve to underscore the emotional intensity. The not quiet moments which fuel the movie are visually fantastic. Director Romaine Gavras who’s background is music videos shoots much of it to replicate the look of a wartime documentary. Everyone is running around most of the time looking for someone or addressing this problem or that. There is smoke everywhere, thrown debris, occasional gunfire and in a stroke of both cinematic genius and logical practicality in a country where everyone does not own a gun, fireworks being used as a weapon. The fireworks act as a deterrent, create chaos and provide visual beauty. This is virtuoso filmmaking. It is hard to choose which is more riveting the virtuoso filmmaking or the heartbreaking story of the brothers. Either way you admire it Athena is breathtaking. Benssaiah and Slimane as the primary protagonists both give excellent performances that perfectly convey what their characters are feeling and why they make the choices they make. Other then the brothers only Alexis Manenti as the mysterious Sebastian and Anthony Bajon as a police officer who gets separated from his colleagues and trapped in Athena really have a character. Almost everyone else is a part of the chaos be they police, protesters, or citizens whose homes are being overrun. It is a smart choice to focus on so few, it gives the script a crispness. Athena possesses a physicality that mixed with the sense of a clock running down has an electrifying affect. Adding to it all is a gorgeous soundtrack by French musician Benoit Heitz who composes here under the name GENER8BION. Most people in North America at least are going to find this movie on Netflix where it went after a brief theatrical release. Along with it you will find a making of Athena documentary. Your probably going to want to check it out to because the filmmaking is that good. This is the new standard of what a twenty first century urban revolt is actually going to look like. Athena is creative and surprising from start to finish and the ending left me feeling blindsided in a good way. From start to finish powerful, powerful stuff. I thought it was brilliant the first time I watched it and I admired it even more the second time around.
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Where to watch
Steaming on Netflix only