In the first ten minutes itself, “ Athena ” establishes a sense of urgency. The French cities went into a state of unrest when a 13- year-old boy lost his life due to police brutality. “ Athena ” is a politically charged film with a family drama at its core. The three sisters of the departed had different worldviews. Abdel was a French dogface who had returned from his service in Mali. He continued to believe in the justice system and hoped that the police would discipline those responsible for Idir’s death. Karim was a rebellious teenage family who had lost his faith in authority. He rather formed a recusant army to force the police to take action. Moktar was the family who wasn't bothered by the incident. He only watched about his medicine business which was affected by the uneasiness in the Athena estate. With long takes, Romain Gavras sets the palpitation of the film. A loss performing to racism can not be dealt with calmly, but can “ an eye for an eye ” be the result? In an interview with “ The Guardian, ” Romain Gavras admits that his film is pessimistic. There's a sense of forlornness in the worsening world of “ Athena. ”
Spoilers Ahead
‘ Athena ’ Plot Summary What Is The Film About?
In the first eleven-minute-long take, Abdel demands police action, whereas his family, Karim, lights a Molotov blend and disrupts the public gathering. The recusant army, with their faces covered, entered the police station and seized all the munitions they could lay their hands on. With fireworks and Molotov amalgamations, the gang was suitable to inseminate fear amongst the police and returned to their estate, sloganeering their war cry “ Athena. ” Athena was the name of the estate inhabited by emigrants. The youthful blood wanted vengeance and action at any cost. They were unafraid of impacts. This was the time for the revolutionists to rise, and the war cry screamed in accord was intoxicating. Karim drifted around the estate, delivering instructions to his platoon. Indeed before he could suffer over the death of his little family, Karim had taken over the challenge of leading an army. With sad eyes and an exhausted body, Karim continued to fight. He believed that their insurrection would bring justice to his family.
Abdel helped the seniors and those against the violence void. numerous criticized his family for the uneasiness, but Abdel kept his calm and concentrated on the evacuation. He hastened to find his mama in their apartment and was forced to attend a prayer service for his family. As the violence escalated, he instructed everyone to leave the demesne. Amidst the crowd, Abdel set up his mama. She asked him to take care of Karim since he was emotionally weak. Abdel had the responsibility of guarding his family, stopping the violence, and seeking justice for Idir.
Karim had injured his hands, but the physical pain was nothing compared to what he was going through emotionally. He looks at his little family’s picture in his apartment, and for the first time, we see him break down. But his sadness was soon overpowered by rage, and he climbed out of his apartment and attacked the police. While the two sisters were dealing with their share of troubles, Moktar was digging a hole to leave Athena. He communicated with bobbies who were on good terms with him and hoped for them to deliver him. He knew that either way, his business would be affected as long as he was inside the Athena estate. Karim realized that they had to come up with a better strategy as dislocation alone would not bring justice. He planned to get hold of a bobby and use him to press the authorities. Karim and the raging rioters were growing intolerant. They demanded an answer, they demanded the names of the perpetrators, and they were ready to take extreme measures to find them.
‘ Athena ’ Ending Explained Who Was Responsible For Karim’s Death? Why Had Abdel Given Up?
Amidst the fire and bank, a bobby is left before at the Athena estate. Jerome was anxious from the moment he was traveling to the hoot point. He tried to get relieved of the nail makeup that his four-time-old had hypercritically applied. In the nippiness of the situation, the various nails were a memorial of a happier time spent with his family. After enmeshing bobby, the rioters penalized him. The police were trying to get intel from Abdel. Since he was on the side of law and order, they believed he could help them enter the estate and control the situation. Indeed though Abdel didn't believe in Karim’s system, he knew that the police would enter and shoot the rioters. He couldn't risk the life of his family. He decided to enter the estate and move Karim to stop the fight.
He set up Jerome and was about to escape with him when Karim set up them. He embraced Karim and asked him to accompany him to a safer place. He explained that the war would only affect destruction and that they would no way get back their family no matter what. But Karim wasn't induced. He called Abdel a snake and a poppet of the authorities. He was a shame to their community. Abdel walked off with Jerome, and soon Karim and his men attacked the two, but they managed to escape to Moktar’s place. Moktar agreed to help the two. He realized that by saving bobby, he'd be suitable to leave Athena fluently. He called his connections in the police force and asked them to deliver Jerome. Karim decided to speak up indeed if it redounded in the deaths of his sisters. With a Molotov in his hand, he tried to blackmail them into handing over Jerome. Moktar informed Abdel that the police were on the way, but Abdel was bothered that they might injure Karim in the process. Moktar assured him that the bobbies would not mess with him, but, as it turned out, the police force lined up and shot Karim when he was about to charge them with Molotov. They didn't enter the structure to save Jerome. It all sounded to be a plan to kill the leader.
Abdel lost control over his feelings. He punched Moktar to death and decided to end the war that his family had started. He'd lost his faith in law and order, and his situation impelled him to fight for the cause and lead the rioters. He negotiated with the police force to get the names of the perpetrators in return for Jerome’s safety. The police informed him that it wasn't the bobbies who had boggled Karim but an anti-crime team group who tried to pull off an intervention. It might have been Moktar who communicated with the anti-crime team, or the bobbies he communicated with could have informed the group as well. Abdel refused to hear any explanation. He wanted the names of those responsible for the death of Idir. The police officer verified that they weren't responsible for his death; many rights-sect crazies had acted out while wearing police uniforms. They didn't yet have the names of the culprits.
Abdel was beyond reason now. He didn't watch the data. He wanted justice, and he wanted it soon. He decided to use Sebastien for their cause. The man sounded to be a retired bomber who took the occasion at hand and decided to use all the gas cylinders present in the estate to bomb down the property. The situation had escalated beyond Abdel’s control. The rioters were scarified by Sebastien’s madness and decided to leave the demesne and surrender themselves to the police. Jerome joined the rioters and left the estate. He was in a state of impassiveness as he surrendered himself to the police. Abdel had lost all his sisters; he'd lost the will to fight for his survival. Without his family, the war no longer made any sense. The stopgap for justice was long gone. He rested in a room while the news on TV stated that a civil war had started in France. He waited for his death as the dust from the structure covered his body. As the camera moves further down from Abdel and the structure, we witness the structure worsening as a result of a series of cylinder bursts.
In the end, “ Athena ” is about loss and the lack of a stopgap in the post-modern world. Karim’s rebellion army was fighting for visibility and justice for those who lost their lives as a result of anti-Muslim racism. The exhilaration of forming their army and unifying for a cause was what drove them, but, in the end, it all collapsed. We're living in a time when the world doesn't stop, indeed when countries are at war. thus, the ending sounded applicable. The death of Idir would presumably be forgotten and all that would remain is wrathfulness an abomination. Sebastien taking over control symbolizes how detest mongers join in a cause with no intention of ever resolving it. Their aphorism is to spread hate and beget destruction.
In Conclusion
France has been in the news for racist conditioning several times. The rise of right-sect unreasonableness has made the condition indeed worse. The fear of emigrants taking over the country and dismembering French culture is what led to targeted attacks and importunity. “ Athena ” brings forth the emigrant ghettos, where the seniors were against attacking the police, knowing that they would lose the livelihood they had erected after times of hard work, but the youth refused to bow down and demanded action. The discussion of “ Us ” versus “ Them ” is incorporated into the film in the form of a TV debate. It isn't just the illustrations that are witching in “ Athena ” but also the background score that combines to form an engaging watch.
“ Athena ” is a 2022 Drama Thriller film directed by Romain Gavras.