Athena

Athena

This year, “Athena” will be the angriest movie which is right. The director Romain Gavras never stops on that one take to make clear that racism, inequality and police violence in the banlieues are no joke. It’s a palpable anger that runs through this first sequence too loudly for its own good; but also mostly for good reason.

Because this thing is simply one of the hardest single takes in recent cinema even if more filmmakers can do it now than ever before (and because of that crazy one shot episode seven of “The Bear,” it’s become part of mainstream TV discourse). So let’s take it apart, shall we? First there’s the murmur of news reports in the background hey, did you know police violence has been increasing? and then there are those defiant eyes: Abdel (Dali Benssalah), a French soldier who’s just come back from his latest tour in Mali after his little brother Idir got caught up in one of these senseless cop killings. And yes, Abdel wants justice. He does. But he also does not break military officer character while inviting everyone around a police station to follow suit.

And as Karim (Sami Slimane) burns through everything around him with his eyes smokes through everything with them really; they burn and smoke like they’re waiting impatiently for something else to burn he lights up a Molotov cocktail and throws it at the door, igniting a well-planned riot within an already rampaging crowd.

Through that through smoke filled chaos so overwhelming it feels impossible even as you watch it happen; smoke filled chaos so overwhelming you can taste it through the screen until your mouth stings; smoke-filled chaos so overwhelming you can’t help but choke on its fumes until your throat itself is singed and sore they take control. They take control of this location, and they take control of these guns. And then Karim takes control of the camera. When he does, it follows him back through Athena: to his housing project; to their housing project, Karim’s and Idir’s; to Athena, the place these revolutionaries revere above all others; to Athena, which stands tall on its edges.

There is so much music in this movie that is loud and big and exhausting. Surkin’s pulsating score was obviously a perfect choice for this sequence one of many perfect choices but it’s a dynamic that reminds me of Hans Zimmer occasionally overindulging when he composes for Christopher Nolan; the music competing against the scope of the images instead of amplifying them.

But other than that (other than that), “Athena” is a Greek tragedy constructed by Costa-Gavras’ son with recognizable hints of “Z,” and it works as such wonderfully well. This thing moves like a political thriller should move, like an urban drama should move, like any kind of crime film should move. It feels genuinely cinematic.

That said: The movie about Idir’s three brothers only comes alive during its small moments. Those small moments are always quiet ones quiet gestures or statements or looks or undercurrents but they’re also always alive. There is a beautiful Islamic funeral prayer here; not just because it simmers with pain and familial grudge, but because it feels real (and it hurts).

And there is Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), who gives “Athena” one if its more challenging storylines by being the sibling who has figured out how to line his pockets while everyone else suffers around him. Running drugs out of Athena, Moktar really couldn’t care less about anything besides surviving and he’ll do what needs to be done in order to make sure he does survive which includes but is not limited to.

The “Athena” script was written by Gavras, Elias Belkeddar and Ladj Ly from “Les Misérables”, which had a similar theme. It is a thoughtful and immersive script. The brothers represent different ways that immigrants and marginalized communities adopt to confront systems of power stacked against them. To Abdel, it seems more of both sides-ism where the means would merge into harmony.

Moktar views things differently; being an opportunist who can look at the whole thing when it is broken, identify its cracks then exploit these weak points for money and influence Karim represents youthful burning radicalism this person does not believe that there could ever be fairness within any system until such point when everything collapses down and built anew.

These struggles might be particular only to those French neighborhoods depicted throughout this movie but they are also global there have been recent echoes in America too. Even with an ambiguous ending note from moral standpoint though not necessarily so as far as storytelling is concerned, “Athena” still manages to tackle these fights sharply; albeit using brash style which sometimes drowns them out.

Watch Athena For Free On Gomovies.