PARIS —
Having cut his teeth with striking music videos for the likes of
Kanye West and
MIA, director Romain Gavras brings an explosive vision of French inner-city
unrest to Netflix on Friday.
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“Athena”, which
shows France descending into civil war following riots over police violence,
has echoes of recent unsettling trends such as the “Yellow Vest” protests and
the rise of the far right.
The director, son
of the legendary — and highly political — French-Greek filmmaker Costa-Gavras,
insists the film is not trying to influence anyone.
“We never really
know whether films have an impact on people,” he told AFP during the Venice
Film Festival, where the film got its world premiere earlier this month.
“Personally, it was
Marlon Brando who made me want to start smoking ... but when we’re filled with anger,
I don’t know if watching a film can stop it,” he added.
“Athena” plunges
the audience, from its very first frames, into the rage and tumult of an
inner-city suburb where riots break out over the death of a young man at the
hands of the police.
Fanned by the far
right, the unrest drags the whole country into civil war.
It bears comparison
with “La Haine”, the hugely successful tale of unrest in the Paris suburbs from
1995 — though its heightened imagery has more in common with mythological
Hollywood films such as “Gladiator” or “Apocalypse Now”.
What makes it all
the more tragic is that France’s strict rules, aimed at curbing the influence
of streaming platforms, mean “Athena” cannot be shown in French cinemas, though
it will get a limited theatrical release in other countries.
“The film could not
have been made without Netflix,” Gavras said, while adding his “great dismay”
that it will not be shown on the big screen in his home country.
‘Over the precipice’
It is the third full-length feature by the 41-year-old director, who
gained international attention with music shorts such as “Bad Girls” by MIA,
“No Church in the Wild” by Jay-Z and Kanye West, and “Nothing Breaks Like a
Heart” by Mark Ronson.
His 2007 video for
Justice’s “Stress” created a furor, showing young gang members on a rampage
around Paris — and was banned from French TV. “Athena” has universal relevance,
said Gavras.
“A rapidly
worsening situation is being felt everywhere in the world — in France, in
Greece, in the US,” he said.
“When a country is
fragile, it’s very easy to push it over the precipice,” he said.
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