A feature-length collection of seemingly unbroken takes—including a nearly 12-minute opening shot that travels from the halls of a French police station to a highway chase to the immigrant housing complex of the title—Athena puts exciting technique in the service of social awareness. In the wake of the apparent police killing of a 13-year-old French-Algerian boy, unrest erupts across the city, which we witness through the eyes of the murdered boy’s three brothers: Abdel (Dali Benssalah), a soldier in the French army who calls for patience and peace; Karim (Sami Slimane), a charismatic youth leader who ignites an attack on the police station in the movie’s opening; and Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), whose disaffection has turned to drug dealing. All give strong performances that personalize the proceedings, but it’s the camerawork by director Romain Gavras (son of director Costa-Gavras) and cinematographer Matias Boucard that defines the film: immediate, unrelenting, and . . . maybe too electrifying? There are times when Athena feels uncomfortably close to an expertly staged Hollywood action drama (the use of choral elements to amplify the images doesn’t help). And an unnecessary, last-minute reveal muddies the waters in an unhelpful way. Yet when it’s clicking—and it mostly clicks—Athena balances aesthetics with import, even interweaving the two into something that has the grave intimacy of Son of Saul and the political potency of The Battle of Algiers.
(12/16/2022)
