It is a real shock that awaits the public ofAthena by Romain Gavras, available on Netflix this Friday. The burning of a fictional city after the death of a kid supposedly killed by the police offers an immersive experience based on stunning sequence shots. An hour and a half of clashes without having time to catch his breath. Ladj Ly, award-winning director of Miserables and friend of Romain Gavras since adolescence, co-signed the screenplay for this tragedy against a backdrop of fratricidal rivalries.
“We wrote this story without thinking about its feasibility, explains Romain Gavras to 20 minutes. Things got complicated when it came time to shoot. The director and his team had to pick up up to six hundred extras. Two months of rehearsals were needed to achieve a breathtaking device giving the impression of being at the heart of increasingly brutal scuffles between the inhabitants of the city and the police. Unity of time (one day) and unity of place (the city) were among the constraints that the filmmaker imposed on himself in order to respect the codes of a Greek tragedy to which the title of the film refers.
Blood, fire and tears
“It’s a very dark picture of a future that we would not like to see happen, with the jubilant side of the start of the revolt then the inevitable reversal which rocks in blood, fire and tears”, insists Romain Gavras . Athena never incites violence as the destinies of the characters are unenviable in a context of permanent one-upmanship. Romain Gavras strongly denies having wanted to give lessons. “If the message had been too simple, I would have contented myself with a hashtag rather than making a film, insists the filmmaker. I try to grip the spectator to make him experience sensations and emotions which I believe do not make you want to take up arms. »
This impressive film, shown at the Venice Film Festival, could not have seen the light of day without Netflix. “They financed me by leaving me total freedom, particularly in the choice of actors unknown to the general public, affirms Romain Gavras. I think Netflix deserves credit for shaking up global production. This is clearly the case with Athena, a powerful film whose diabolical spiral offers a show that is as gripping as it is heartbreaking. Simply great cinema.