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.

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.

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.

After the screening of Antigone, I was in shock, filled with awe and admiration. How to explain the conviction that I ( and all the audience) we were witnessing the birth of an important piece of art? I think it might be by dissection, by studying its internal parts.

The first main quality of Sophie Deraspe's "Antigone" is the choice of the theme: the author suggests an analyze of the moral of our society. It is a film about integrity in a society where the rules are fixed and should be respected no matter what. Sophie Deraspe's script it is a meditation about our own implication by adopting an unconcerned view about other people's needs. It is very important to notice the mastery of the plot, the suspense created by the rise of hope that Antigone will be liberated. And to understand the scene in the Juv facility when Antigone's indignation is provoked by the way one of the girls is humiliated. I am in awe about how the author used the role of the chorus in a stunning modern vision: young people follow Antigone's statement "Mon Coeur me dit". My heart told me. Yes, it is a film about the importance of what your heart tells you. The moving scenes of Ménacée, the grandmother, singing in front of the facility where Antigone is prisoner, brings us to understand the real meaning of love. But this same love also triggers the climax : when Ménacée, not to leave Polynice alone, decides to go back to her country, Antigone's fight to keep her family together is broken. She is left alone. This replaces Sophocle's play which ends with Antigone's death with the contemporary meaning: alone in a society that rejects her, Antigone is like being dead. This is the way I understand the last shot of Antigone, the end of Sophie's film. The directorial mastery might be explained by one scene: Eteocle's death. The scene is filmed in a large shot, we barely see the cell phone in Eteocle's hand, we hear the gun shot and Polynice's shout. We want to see it again, to understand how it was possible. And that is mastery. The cast is outstanding. Nahema Ricci's performance is a great tribute to the art of acting. But not only Nahema. Every character brings that aesthetic pleasure to dive into a real world: Ménacée ( Rashida Oussada), Ismène, the judge, Haemon and his father. The movie, filmed by Sophie Deraspe (it is difficult to find a position that was not Sophie's direct work) brings the aesthetic of cinematography to a the highest level: I am still haunted by the intensity of the C.U's, the pure beauty of shots and last, but not least, the editing (yes, Sohie's again) not only of the images but also of the sounds. Antigone is an important film in the world's cinema, a film that makes one think and evaluate his/her own choices.