Athena (2022)

This week the A-to-Z part Deux Challenge brings us the letter “G” and Picture Car Coordinator Gilles Camy. And the movie that Gilles worked on that we’ll be looking at? Athena (2022).

Whoa, hang on a second. What the heck is a Picture Car Coordinator?

Any car that shows up on-screen in a movie is the responsibility of the Picture Car Coordinator. But responsible how? Well, in our case, Gilles Camy made sure that the vehicle(s) got to set, that they were customized as needed for the scene, and that they were all in good running order. So, now that we have a better understanding of what Gilles Camy does, let’s get to Athena (2022).

Title: Athena

Director: Romain Gavras

Released: September 2, 2022, at the Venice Film Festival and September 23, 2022, on Netflix

Runtime: 1 hour 39 minutes

Available to stream on: Netflix

Abdel (Dali Benssalah), an Algerian-French soldier, announces at a press conference outside of a police station, that his brother, Idir, has passed away. The reason for the press conference? Idir, who was only thirteen years old, is believed to have died at the hands of policemen who beat him and left him for dead.

Observing quietly from the back of the crowd is Abdel’s other brother, Karim (Sami Slimane) along with a group who look to Karim as a leader. Abdel is urging everyone to remain calm and protest in a peaceful manner, however, Karim has other ideas.

He, and the youth that comprise his group, are tired of the unchecked police brutality that keeps occurring against them. Peaceful protests have not produced any results. Once he sees his opening, Karim launches a Molotov cocktail. As one would expect, chaos ensues. Karim and his group storm the station, stealing guns and a police van. Now armed with guns, the youth flee back to their suburb of Athena and prepare for battle.

Karim has an entire community that stands behind him and is ready to fight alongside him. He believes that the only way justice can be served is if the officers responsible for his brother’s death are publicly identified. If getting those answers requires violence and unrest along the way, so be it.

However, Abdel is not convinced that violence is necessarily the right answer. He believes that cooler heads will ultimately prevail. He’s also hesitant because he’s herd that the police have reason to believe a far-right group is behind the murder of Idir, not the police themselves. The extremist group carried out the vicious attack as a war to incite racial unrest.

But this isn’t the first time the community has had issues with the police. Trust is everything. And the trust between the police and the residents of Athena was broken a long time ago.

So, how can the residents of Athena be expected to believe anything that the police tell them?

How much blood will have to spill for peace to prevail?

Go.

Watch.

This.

Movie.

Even if nothing in the brief and simplified synopsis sounded interesting to you, you need to watch Athena (2022) for the camera work and editing alone.

The way that Matias Boucard shot, and Benjamin Weill edited this is nothing short of jaw dropping. You feel like you are right there in the middle of the action from the first frame all the way through the end credits. However, it’s not done in a herky-jerky way where you find yourself feeling nauseous. Instead, you feel as if you’re standing side-by-side with whoever is the focal point of the scene.

What’s better than a film that’s shot incredibly well? One that is also brilliantly edited. So many of the scenes, like the beginning where Karim launches the Molotov cocktail, are designed to look like one-shots. Well, spoiler alert, they aren’t. Everything is masterfully edited together to make it look as seamless as possible.

You could have only given me the cinematography and editing, and I would have had fun watching Athena (2022). But, Romain Gavras, Elias Belkeddar, and Ladj Ly made sure we also were given a story that would keep us captivated. Despite being swept up in the chaos unfolding, we also find ourselves having varying degrees of emotional investment in each main character.

Please, if you have not seen Athena (2022), fix that as soon as possible.

So, that’s what I think, but what about you? What are your thoughts on Athena (2022)?

Let me know in the comments below or by reaching out on social media!

By now, you know what’s next. Keep an eye out on Threads and Instagram on Wednesday. That is when next week’s crew member for the letter “H” will be revealed along with the movie they worked on that we’ll be covering.