In
Athena
, a new feature film by Romain Gavras released on September 23 on Netflix, a French city erupts after the death of a young boy, Idir, following a police blunder.
While in the siblings, Abdel, back from Mali where he fought for the French army, plays the appeasement, Karim finds himself propelled leader of an army of angry young people.
Written with Ladj Ly, sidekick of Romain Gavras within the Kourtrajme collective,
Athena
borrows from Greek tragedy,
“without convincing”
, estimates Étienne Sorin for Le
Figaro
.
Read alsoOur review of the film
Athena
: suburban heroes are tiring, on Netflix
“We are all the same very far from Aeschylus and Euripides”
, abounds Jean-Luc Wachthausen du
Point
.
The violent staging leaves the viewer
"KO"
believes the journalist: "
We are dizzy, even unwell, faced with this frightening spectacle, always the same, which resonates like the reports broadcast by the continuous news channels.
“The ambitious staging of the one who has made clips for Kanye West, Jay-Z or Justice, is also disappointing for Théo Ribeton, of
Inrocks
:
"Gavras claims to place himself under the aegis of ancient tragedy (just that), he actually has more to do with the imagery of online betting ads than with any dramatic tradition of ancient nobility."
“An expected film which turns out to be disappointing”,
confirms
La Croix
through the pen of Charlotte de Frémont.
After Mathieu Kassovitz with
La Haine
, and Ladj Ly with his
Les Miserables
, it is therefore Romain Gavras' turn to direct his “suburban film”.
But of all these titles,
Athena
is
“the one that takes the ball the furthest towards the war film”
writes Jacques Mandelbaum in
Le Monde
.
“We will not find there, alas, this depth, both of the characters and of the feelings at work in
Les Misérables
, which allowed the spectator to understand the outbursts of violence”,
he writes.
“A ball against his camp”
considers Sandra Onana for
Liberation
.
“Neither the torchlight speeches of a Christian warlord nor the original music of composer Surkin over children's choirs chanting in Greek can convince that
Athena
exists for anything other than her stylistic deluge.
Certainly not for its characters (or the real-world commuters who serve as their role models), since there are none.
Gavras does not stand up to them, never allows them to come and contradict their sole function of thugs (indistinct pack), grieving mothers, drug dealers puffed up with violence
, ”continues the journalist.
Her colleague from the Cahiers du cinema, Lucile Commeaux, is no less severe.
She wonders if the technical straitjacket,
"beyond its aesthetic vanity is not also there to master the situation, in this case the unleashing of three main characters as mistreated as each other by fiction, reduced to pure functions - the good, the brute and the ugly - and whose motivations and speeches are of a distressing simplicity".
Cinema Teaser
takes the opposite view and calls
Athena
"
one of the best films of the 21st century"
.
"When a large white horse appears between the bars of buildings, surrealism disrupts the viewer's experience, caught in a vice between the raw realism of suburban film and images from elsewhere, from Helm's abyss or Hollywood”,
develops Emmanuelle Spadacenta.
Abroad, where
Athena
knew how to seduce during her presentation at the Venice Film Festival,
The Hollywood Reporter
and
Variety
seem conquered by the
“technical virtuosity”
with which Romain Gavras expresses himself.
“With impressive skill and what must have been wildly complicated camera choreography, Gavras and cinematographer Matias Boucard create the illusion of continuous long takes,”
David Rooney writes for The
Hollywood Reporter
.
Read alsoRomain Gavras: “The acceleration towards the worst, we feel it all over the world
”