Athena

Le spectateur est entraîné de manière grandiose dans le fracas des émeutes ; la première longue scène, apparemment filmée en un seul plan, est d’une grande beauté technique. Le moteur du film, qui carbure à la colère, ne ralentit pas jusqu’à la fin, réaffirmant à plusieurs reprises la volonté des auteurs d’utiliser de longs plans très bien composés et à l’intensité dramatique progressive. Mais ils ne parviennent pas à nous rapprocher suffisamment des personnages pour que nous puissions faire l’expérience de cet enfer à leur place. Sur le plus raisonnable d’entre eux, nous n’apprenons rien de plus personnel que l’identité de son frère. Avec une intrigue aussi simple, sans attachement émotionnel et sans dimension artistique supérieure, Athena devient une construction un peu superficielle. (14/12/2022)

Ghetto War from France! Athena is a relative of films like Les Miserables and Short, and anyone who has a soft spot for films like this will be pleased. Director Romain Gavras engulfs the audience with a dense atmosphere from the very beginning. The opening ambush of the police station is really intense, ruthless and quite chilling (filmed in one take!). The tragic death of a boy in a housing estate triggers utter anarchy, chaos and civil war in the streets, which throws three brothers into a nasty situation. Not much of a story here, it's pretty simple, but it works. Sami Slimane's young thug capo was perfect, he puts on an incredible performance for an unknown actor and I totally bought the whole role (I enjoyed his image and speech). The great cinematography that shows all the chaos almost in one take, the wonderfully haunting music and the bleak atmosphere worked wonderfully here. Towards the end, the film shifts more to drama and the pace slows down slightly, but this can be forgiven. An adrenaline ride as it should be. 75% (25/09/2022)

After a hit like Les Misérables, it's hard to be satisfied with other films that are just a level below. Qualitatively, it falls far short of the aforementioned (for me already a cult-classic of the genre), and so while I can't say I disliked Athena, I can't be fully satisfied either. Average. (13/10/2022)

Here, it's clear that form won out over content. Technically speaking, I haven't seen anything better from France so far. Just that chaotic 10-minute opening with no cuts left me stunned. The film offers more such scenes; audiovisually, it’s truly top-notch. However, this detachment really hurts it. Some characters emerge, but the film fails to develop them thoroughly (and I can imagine that with more care, the entire brotherly trio could have been handled much better). That’s why the ending didn’t hit me as emotionally as the creators probably intended. On the other hand, the runtime isn’t excessive, something is always happening on screen, and it mainly gives you a glimpse into the significant unrest in France. Don’t expect more than a decent one-time viewing, though. For me, it's 6/10. (16/10/2022)