Antigone

Firstly I applaud any adaption of ancient archetypes. Changing the times is interesting, and the ancients authors fundamentally changed even the morals of the archetype stories. There are very different lessons/conclusions in the Daedalus, Prometheus, Iphigenia & Electra, etc. of course Antigone, part of the Oedipus cycle, was dealt with very differently by Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides. . That said this telling is a total failure. It is shallow and pedantic and absurdly puts Antigone'S fate on everyone, making the story nonsense from any perspective.

The pretention of this film is to make us believe that it is a tragedy because it takes its title from a famous Greek tragedy and because the protagonists it shows bear Greek names picked from the tragedy. In 2020 it sounds absurd to have North African emigrants called Antigone, Ménécée, Ismène, or Étéocle!. More over the story ignores totally the original content of the tragedy. The result is an amateurish film badly acted and badly directed. The only positive aspect is the beauty of Nahema Ricci's facial expression. Unfortunately because of the inexperienced director her expression remains the same all along the movie.

To anyone who has ever read or watched the tragedy of Antigone, this film is nothing but a cheap joke. They should have never dare a comparison, and if they hadn't, the film could be watchable, still very average, common, one dimensional, full of cliches, but watchable. Now it's insulting. The character of Antigone is only 50% of the tragedy. The other 50% is Creon, who guess what: he doesn't exist in the film! I guess it wasn't very easy to find an up to date parallel for him so they just ignored him... I'm actually begging: stop messing with the masters, Sophocles in this case, you can't beat them! 3 stars only for the powerful performance of young Antigone.

In a Montreal suburb, the title character (Nahéma Ricci) is a teenage immigrant from Algeria living with her grandmother and three siblings. After her family faces a double tragedy, Antigone is determined to help a troubled family member even if this means making a great sacrifice. The film is an updated adaptation of the ancient Greek play by Sophocles.

The beginning sequences are very touching for not only revealing the troubles in the present but also the tragedies faced by the family before moving to Canada. The film's pivotal scene takes place in a prison. While the scene is bizarre to the point of being almost unbelievable, it deserves the benefit of the doubt as it is well orchestrated. To give the film further credit, scenes taking place in courtrooms and prisons have just the right amount of bleakness as they would in real life.

Later sections in the film are mixed, sadly with good intentions that go awry by taking on too much. Many subplots and issues are under-explored leaving an empty feeling by the end. Those that do work include a fascinating plot twist near the end that leaves the main character dumbfounded about her great intentions. Those that are less effective include a social media movement that unintentionally turns Antigone into a star. The sequences are entertaining but there's too little exposure of the origin of this movement. Also, the character of Antigone's boyfriend is so under-developed that he is downright annoying.

"Antigone" seems to have joined "Incindies" (2010) and "Monsieur Lazhar" (2011) to create a new film genre: the experiences of Middle Eastern/North African immigrants of tragic pasts integrating in the Montreal region. The earlier two films are stronger though "Antigone" certainly has its assets including a fiery lead performance by Ricci. - dbamateurcritic.

I saw it as inspired adaptation of the plays, from Sophocle to Anouilh. Precise, moving, provocative, using the fair cinematography and beautiful portrait of the clash between family and law. But, sure, the basic virtue remaind Nehame Ricci performance, reminding, so much,Maria Falconetti in the masterpiece of Carl Theodor Dreyer . A film about immigrants condition.Short, just a beautiful film.