The Climax: The Athena youths’ blazing ride

➽ The emotional and technical high point of the entire sequence comes when the Athena youths, having commandeered a police van after the fiery mêlée at the station, speed down the highway, joyfully declaring victory and waving the French flag, as motorcycles pop triumphant wheelies all around them and bystanders along the road cheer them on. At first, the camera is inside the van, then it exits and follows the vehicle down the highway before reentering the van, exiting again, and spinning around it. The scene is eye-popping but never showy. There’s also, unbelievably, very little VFX or cutting. “I hate green screen,” Gavras says.

“You don’t feel the danger.” Instead, the camera’s dive into the van and spiral around it were executed for real while hurtling down the road. A camera operator was strapped to a motorcycle driving alongside; as the vehicles continued, another camera operator who was filming inside the van with the kids passed the camera to the operator outside, who then filmed the dizzying exterior shot before handing it back. “Everything looks like a ballet,” Boucard says.