Is Netflix’s Athena based on a true story? |All Social Updates

Romain Gavras is the director of the French-language film Athena, produced by Netflix and set on the council estate of the same name in Paris. The dramatic film’s plot focuses on three brothers named Abdel, Mokhtar and Karim, each reacting in their own way to the death of their younger brother Idir. Their ideological differences lead to a difficult family drama, set in the context of a civil war that is taking place on the Athena estate. Therefore, given the socio-political underpinnings of the story, audiences are likely to be curious as to whether or not the film is based on actual events. With this scenario in mind, below is all the information you need about the ideas that led to the creation of Athena.

Is Athena a true story?

Contrary to popular belief, Athena is not based on a real event. The screenplay for the film was written by Elias Belkeddar, Romain Gavras and Ladj Ly and served as the basis for the film. The events of the story take place in the council estate known as Athena, located in Paris. The battle in this premise revolves around Karim, a rebel commander, and Abdel, a decorated soldier. Both Karim and Abdel are looking for answers about their brother Idir’s death, which appears to have been caused by police officers. The authors created a fictional account of the brothers and their efforts to seek vengeance from the world.

The film’s director and co-writer Romain Gavras opened up about the origins of the story in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Gavras also helped write the screenplay. “The concept of being part of the initial spark of what has the potential to become the first fire that would sweep across a nation like a contribution. “We decided very quickly that we needed these formal qualities of storytelling, namely (a) unity of time and place and (a) lots of cues and symbolic power for the imagery,” Gavras said. “Because I was influenced by Greek tragedy from the start – you know, Greek tragedy was like bedtime stories in my family – we decided very quickly that we needed these formal qualities of storytelling, because Greek tragedy was like bedtime stories in my family.

Gavras revealed in the same interview that the film’s titular council estate is not based on an actual area in the city of Paris. Instead, the mansion is a fiction, and the name alludes to the fact that the film is inspired by Greek tragedy as well as Athena, the Greek goddess of protection and strategy. The film’s director stated that in developing the plot, they focused on an incident that could spark a movement across the country. The same is demonstrated in the film by the death of Idir, a young man who dies in police custody. The event, on the other hand, is not based on any specific incident that happened in real life. Instead, the story of Idir’s death and his brothers’ reaction is based on a combination of various real-life situations that served as loose inspiration.

Gavras used Greek storytelling techniques, deeply rooted in family dynamics, to create an atmosphere that seemed authentic. “If you look at the Greek Civil War, that’s something men in my family know — it’s like grandfather against grandfather; Cousin versus cousin,” Gavras said, explaining the film’s themes as they relate to families. “If you look at the Greek Civil War, that’s something that men in my family have known.” Because it happens between members of the same family, it’s the worst. “That’s why we took close proximity to a fractured family whose pain is spreading through the neighborhood and eventually across the country,” he said.

Ultimately, the film Athena is not based on any actual event or person. It is a work of fiction that examines the ideological divisions caused by the civil war through the lens of the family unit and was influenced by the conventions of Greek tragedy. The film also offers a profound social commentary on modern society and the fragility of its condition. The conflicts and acts of violence that take place in the fictional Athena social area are meant to be symbolic of the myriad problems that exist in the real world. The stunning visual aesthetic and the depiction of fear, anarchy and persecution help the captivating story to hold the audience’s attention. The plot, on the other hand, remains grounded in reality thanks to its themes and the compelling family drama it contains, allowing the viewer to connect emotionally with the subject matter.

Also Read: Netflix’s Athena Ending Explained: Who Killed Idir?

Athena (2022 film)

Athena
Directed by	Romain Gavras
Screenplay by	Romain Gavras Ladj Ly Elias Belkeddar
With	Dali Benssalah Sami Slimane Anthony Bayon Ouassini Embarek Alexis Manenti
cinematography	Matthew Boucard
Edited by	Benjamin Weil
Music of	generation8ion
production companies
Expelled from	Netflix
release date	September 2, 2022 (Venice)
country	France
Languages

plot

Set in a French banlieu, the story focuses on the struggle of the deceased’s brothers, Karim, Moktar and Abdel. The story is about the chaos that erupts in a neighborhood called Athena as a result of the violent execution of Idir and is set in that neighborhood.

Pour

Dali Benssalah as Abdel

Sami Slimane as Karim

Jerome is played by Anthony Bajon.

Ouassini Embarek as Moktar

Alexis Manenti as Sebastien

production

Iconoclast and Lyly are in charge of producing the film. The film was shot in 2021 in the town of Évry-Courcouronnes, on the outskirts of Paris. French and Arabic are spoken throughout.

Also Read: Is Netflix’s Athena Based on a True Story?

publication

The 79th Venice International Film Festival was the setting for the film’s first public screening. It will premiere in “select” theaters on September 9, 2022, followed by a release on Netflix’s streaming service on September 23, 2022. Netflix will be the film’s distributor.

reception

On the Rotten Tomatoes review-aggregating website, eighty percent of the fifteen critic ratings are good, with a seven out of ten average score. The film received a score of 76 out of 100 on review aggregation website Metacritic, which uses a weighted average to determine the score. This number represents “generally good ratings”.

The film was described as “nerve-racking, intense and explosive” by David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter. He also called the film “a live grenade that begins in full detonation mode and builds in intensity with virtuoso technique throughout.”

Deadline Hollywood writer Todd McCarthy called the film “a torrent, a deluge, a cascade of anger, anger and frustration at the realities of life for a certain group of French families”. He also said that the film “grabs you by the throat and barely gives you a moment to breathe.”

The film received a C+ rating from IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, who described it as “just a pretty cool film about a country that’s ready to catch fire,” saying that it “would have been more terrifying and more successful if it had really would have taken the courage from [the anger of the dispossessed].”

Athena “works better as a rollicking, gripping action spectacle than a thought-provoking political thriller,” according to ScreenDaily’s Tim Grierson.

The film was rated three stars out of five by Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian. He explained that the film was marked by “a stunning opening” but that it also “lost its dramatic form” afterward.

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