Atlantis is a South African movie released in 2021 inspired by the Sophoclean tragedy Antigone, the movie is set in the wind swept and far-flung town of Atlantis. Atlantis was established in the 1970s as part of the apartheid government and spatial planning that sought to create a coloured industrial town. This “Bruin Droomstad” would promise housing and jobs to its residents, but the government ultimately failed and since the area suffers from unemployment, crime and housing issues. The town also shares its name with a famous lost Greek city, perhaps adding in its selection for a modern interpretation of the Antigone.
In Atlantis, Ra’ida “Ray” Hendricks is a taxi driver working for Uncle Amir, the man married to her mothers cousin, and his son Nazeem, as she tries to support her younger teen brother Marid (who also acts as her gatjie). The story revolves around the disappearance of Marid after he tries to steal from Uncle Amir and Nazeem, only to end up missing and with his friends dead. The Antigone revolves around Antigone and her attempt to give her brother Polyneices a fair and proper burial in defiance of her uncle, Creon, the current ruler of Thebes. Antigone and Polyneices were children of the former ruler, Oedipus, who stabbed out his eyes after realizing he had killed his father and married his mother when he took over control of Thebes. Polyneices had died fighting his brother, Eteocles, after a dispute over the throne. In the adaption, Antigone is represented by Ray, Creon by Uncle Amir, Polyneices by Marid and Haemon (Creon’s son and Antigone’s betrothed) by Nazeem.
In the beginning of the film, Ray drives her taxi past a wall with graffiti that states ‘Kingdom of the blind’ which can reference several instances of blindness. The first and most obvious is Oedipus blinding himself after learning what he’d done and leaving the role of ruler of Thebes open. The second, is Creon’s blindness is the Antigone and his refusal to listen to divine will. Third is Ray’s blindness to the true nature of Uncle Amir and Nazeem. Ray considers them her ‘family’ even though she is romantically involved with Nazeem. But Ray believes in them and their goodness, despite the overwhelming evidence that they are involved in shady and illicit dealings. Creon’s blindness results in the death of his wife and son at the end of the Antigone, while Ray’s blindness results in the death of her brother Marid - unable to realize the true nature of her family until it is too late. Lastly, it can be argued that there is a socio-cultural blindness buried deep in Cape Town and wealth gap and spatial injustice. Communities like Atlantis, engineered to reflect apartheid’s racial scheming but ultimately failing and stranding its residents far from work as well as community services show that the best way to exist in Cape Town is to turn a blind eye to the social and cultural failings, lest it get too uncomfortable to look at.
The central conflicts in the Antigone revolve between Creon’s upholding of his authority and rule, and Antigone’s defiance in favour of divine justice and ritual. In Charles Segal’s 2019 ‘Sophocles Praise of Man and Conflicts in the Antigone’, he notes that Creon defines himself and his authority by his civic and political roles (Segal, 2019). Therefore, he associates honour with what benefits the state and cannot conceive that the gods would honour a traitor to the state, as Segal notes: “presumes that human and divine—or political and religious—values exactly coincide.” Segal compares this with Antigone, who relies on what honor means to the gods. In the end, by denying Polyneices burial Creon denies the natural place for death - that death is not ‘an instrument for control’ but a part of human existence (Segal, 2019). Alternatively, Antigone is completely committed not only to seeing out the death of Polyneices but her own:
“Take heart! You live. But my life has long been in Death's hands so that I might serve the dead." (560, translated by Sir Richard C. Jebb, 1900)
Antigone says this to her sister Ismene, who always wants to die alongside Antigone. Ismene warned Antigone against performing the burial rites, but later is willing to throw her lot in with her sister who steadfastly insists she stay out of it. Their exchange is harsh, but full of love and compassion. As noted by Robert Frances Goheen in 'The Imagery of Sopchles Antigone', Antigone is led strongly by her emotions:
“Whereas Creon’s metaphors consistently employ sensory phenomena and so have an immediate aura of measurable fact, Antigone draws heavily upon direct terms of emotion, many of her expressions are half-way between imagery and emotionalism…” (76)
In this we can definitely see Atlantis’ Ray and Uncle Amir - Ray is led by her emotion. Her love for her found family in Auntie Aliyah (her mother’s cousin) and her husband Uncle Amir, she believes completely Marid would never do anything to hurt her or his friends. While Uncle Amir is committed to the ‘law of the jungle’, and his belief that is just how things work in the world (his world).
 |
| Antigone in front of the dead Polynices by Nikiforos Lytras 1865 |
However, it is worth mentioning there is a distinct difference in how the Antigone and Atlantis characterize the morals and positions of their characters. In the Antigone, the lead characters belong to the ruling class of Thebes - it can be argued Atlantis is similar but the criminal implications are unfortunate. Uncle Amir being a gangster and Nazeem similarly, a gangster with violent tendencies towards women. Uncle Amir’s counterpart Creon is obviously misguided in punishing his Antigone and denying the burial of Polyneices, but he does do it with the authority and belief it is good for Thebes. Haemon, by comparison, is in love with Antigone to the point he defies his father and kills himself. Haemon also advocates for Antigone to his father, and not just for her but for the wellness of the polis. In Atlantis, Nazeem pulls a gun on Ray and threatens to kill her for going against the family. The sudden violence against our modern Antigone feels unnecessary and cheap. Even the killing of Marid is different. Marid is killed by Uncle Amir as a message, because he is the gangster King of Atlantis and this is how he earns respect. Polyneices dies fighting for his rightful share to rule Thebes - Creon does not honour him because he will not honour a usurper.
The mix of Cape Town and Greek tragedy does make a delightful mix, but anchoring it with senseless crime and violence in a play where the violence is incredibly intentional. In Atlantis, the ‘bad’ people on screen do not steal to survive, they live in excess. We get countless expositions about how Nazeem and Uncle Amir drive nice ‘larnie’ cars and dress well. It misses out on how often young people turn to gangsterism because they do not have a choice; it is not romantic or noble or far removed like a Greek play but a statistic when you look at Western Cape gun deaths.
 |
| Bronte Snel as 'Ray' in Atlantis (2021) |
I do like the movie and think it's interesting, however I think in using the Antigone it does not quite reflect Sophcles’ narrative intentions. The Antigone is not really a story of revenge as Atlantis becomes, but of divine law and justice - everything unfolds as it is meant to. Atlantis might have benefited better from using a play like the Hecabe by Euripides; one of female rage and powerlessness in tandem which suits Ray as a protagonist better. None of the men are sympathetic in the Hecabe, or at least not to the point where anything can be changed. Marid and Polyxena also, similarly, make good comparisons. Polyxena dies for no other reason than Achille’s ghostly rage, and Marid dies for no other reason than Uncle Amir’s lost pride. Impotent Nazeem goes well with an impotent Odysseus who, while understanding of the female protagonist's situation, cannot actively intervene. Odysseus does allow Hecuba revenge for the death of her son as it does not concern the Greeks directly, which could also represent the police Captain Witbooi in Atlantis who laments there are far more powerful people than him but he can support Ra’ida from the sidelines.
Without the comparison to Antigone, I do think Atlantis is an interesting movie but it seems stuck between following the same beats of the Sophoclean tragedy but missing the steps that make the Antigone compelling. At the end of Atlantis, Ray has gotten her revenge on Uncle Amir - his wife and son are dead just like her brother. But at the end of the Antigone, Antigone is dead at her own hand and the death of Creon’s wife Eurydice and his son Haemon, are yes caused by his foolishness but more overwhelmingly, his defiance of the gods. It is not revenge for siding with Eteocles against Polyneices, resulting in his death. That was part of human conflict, it was allowing Polyneices body to rot out in the open without the proper funerary and burial rites - polluting the earth and the polis.
References:
- Antigone, Sophocles (translated by Sir Richard C. Jebb, 1900)
- Atlantis, 2021, South African film
- “Bruin Droomstad” (Coloured dream-city) - The Story of Atlantis — Cape Town Museum: https://www.capetownmuseum.org.za/places/atlantis accessed 27 September 2024
- Segal, Charles. "5. Sophocles' Praise of Man and the Conflicts of the Antigone." (2019): 137-162.
- R. F. Goheen, The Imagery of Sophocles’ Antigone (Princeton 1951)
