By Jeremy Ricketts-Hagan
Athena is best summarised by the quote used at the end of its first trailer.
“It is difficult to fight anger, for a man will buy revenge with his soul.”
This concept resonates throughout the film, and is particularly relevant when considering the fate of our main protagonists.
Athena is the third feature film of French director Romain Gavras. It is set within the titular Athena, an inner city neighbourhood of Paris. It revolves around the unjust killing of a young teenager of Algerian descent, Idir, allegedly by the French police. It deals with the riotous movements that follow it. The riots are orchestrated by Karim, the older brother of Idir. They are being thwarted by the brutal police regime of metropolitan Paris and by Abdel, another of Idir’s older brothers.
It’s hard to overstate how stunning this film is. Much of Athena is filmed through extended shots, with sequential cuts every 15-20 minutes creating chapters within the film. Every frame feels like a Renaissance painting, as the architecturally cold yet lively inner-city suburb is beautifully portrayed through sweeping, tracking camerawork. This directorial style, coupled with the ominous orchestral score of the artist Gener8ion, creates a grand atmosphere which highlights the tense and antagonistic relationship between the youth of Athena and the police authorities. Gavras is perhaps best known for his direction of the Kanye West x Jay Z music video No Church in the Wild. In Athena, Garvas builds upon this past work, creating an expressive image of a grand rebellion.
Thematically, Athena is a beautiful addition to French anti-authority filmography, popularised by films such as La Haine (1995) and Gang Of The Caribbean (2016). I really enjoyed how this film uses the individual members of the grieving family as archetypes for the POC immigrant experience. Karim, our main protagonist, is portrayed as a revolutionary figure. He is tired of the corruption and racism that befalls his community and has a charismatic personality that draws legions of inner-city youth to his cause. He is young, wise, and yet undoubtedly rash. His ideological viewpoint is directly opposed by his older brother, Abdel, who is a member of the French military. Though it is clear that Abdel feels the pain of his brother’s death and sympathises with Karim’s movement, he is the quintessential “work through the system” type of character that those from marginalised communities are all too familiar with.
Athena is an excellent watch. Not only as an investigation of the inner-city tension that still permeates within discriminated communities in France, but also as a cinematically poignant tale of a family in the midst of a theoretical and very literal war.
Plus, it’s only like 90 mins. I promise you’ve got time.
