When a 13-year-old boy is seemingly killed by cops, his brothers find
themselves on opposing sides of a mass riot.
Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Romain Gavras
Starring: Dali Benssalah, Sami Slimane, Anthony Bajon, Ouassini Embarek, Alexis
Manenti
Ask any cinephile to name three political filmmakers and Costa-Gavras
is sure to make the list. The Greek-French director's son,
Romain Gavras, is something of a political filmmaker too, but the
methods employed by father and son couldn't be more different. Gavras
Jnr is very much a stylist, often accused of style over substance, and
is best known for his work in the fields of music promos and
commercials, which sometimes contain blunt political messages like the
genocide against gingers of his promo for MIA's 'Born Free', a theme he
carried over into his feature debut, Our Day Will Come.
His third feature, Athena, is similarly blunt, but I'm not sure if it has a message, or anything
of substance to say. Part Battle of Algiers, part Death Wish III, the film tackles the hot button French issue of police brutality
against immigrant communities and the riots that often break out in
response.
When a 13-year-old Arab boy is seemingly killed by police, an incident
captured on video and shared across social media, the boy's oldest
brother Abdel (Dali Benssalah, an Arab George Clooney), a
decorated soldier, appeals for calm at a press conference held at the
local police station. His words are ignored by his younger brother Karim
(Sami Slimane), who leads an assault on the police station,
stealing weapons and returning to Athena, a sprawling council estate in
the Parisian suburbs. Meanwhile, Abdel's half-brother Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), the local drug dealer, is attempting to hide his stash before the
police come charging in.
The film begins following the three brothers, along with Jerome (Anthony Bajon), a riot cop who finds himself separated from his unit and attempting
to escape the estate. This latter subplot plays like a lesser retread of
Ladj Ly's
Les Misérables
(Ly is a co-writer here) and the recent Danish thriller
Shorta, especially when Abdel becomes his protector.
It's never clear what we're supposed to make of the various characters,
as Gavras takes a dispassionate, objective view of the scenario. Aside
from Moktar, who is something of a stereotypical portrayal of a
narcissistic drug dealer, there are cases to be made for all the
protagonists. Karim's anger is understandable, whether justified or not,
while Abdel's desire to protect his community from imploding with rage
is equally relatable. Jerome is simply trying to get home after a
fraught day at work. Ly pulled this objectiveness off very well with
Les Misérables, but here it just leaves us coldly watching the chaos ensue. The
citizens of Athena are as faceless as the rioters of
Assault on Precinct 13, while the cops might as well be androids.
So yes, we're very much dealing with a case of style over substance
here. But what style! Athena is one of the most visually
dazzling movies of recent years. I'm not sure what sort of budget Gavras
was working with but it looks like the most expensive movie to come out
of France since the days of Abel Gance. Gavras shoots most scenes in
extended single takes, employing drones to capture some shots that will
have you rewinding to try and figure out where the joins are and how on
earth he managed to pull them off so smoothly. The opening sequence -
which begins with the assault on the police station, continues to a
highway chase and ends with Karim rallying his troops back at the
titular estate - is a oner for the ages, an incredible piece of
technical virtuosity. There are individual moments – like fireworks
reflecting off the shields of dozens of riot cops – that will have your
jaw on the floor. Athena is a thing of dark beauty, but it
should probably be a lot grittier. If you come for the politics you'll
likely be left cold, but you'll stay for the imagery. There's a sad
irony that only Netflix could afford to give a French filmmaker the sort
of budget required to make something this expansively cinematic, and
it's a shame it will be experienced by most viewers on screens too small
to do it justice.
