Movie review: 'Icare' ('Icarus')

When discussing modern adaptations of classical Greek myths, you can frequently see people complain about the changes the authors made: "That's not authentic, not traditional; that's not what really happened in the original." In fact, reinterpreting old stories, giving them a new, contemporary meaning, weaving several different tales into one - is the truest, most authentic Ancient Greek tradition. That's what Greek (and, later, Roman) writers always did.

Of course, some older texts - Homer, in the first place - were regarded higher than others, but there was no 'canon', no Old Testament; no single authority on what 'really happened'. In one of Euripides' tragedies, Helen of Troy is a callous, cynical adulteress; in another by the same poet, she's a woman of the highest moral qualities who's never even been to Troy. That's because, when writing these two plays, Euripides set very different tasks before himself.

'Icare' (2022) is a French-language feature film mixing 2D and 3D animation. It was made by Luxembourg studio The Iris Group, directed and co-written by former Pixar employee Carlo Vogele. The movie was the Luxembourg's "Best Foreign Film" submission for the 2023 Oscars. It tells the story of Icarus, son of the illustrious artist and inventor Daedalus, entwining it with another famous Cretan myth - that of Asterion ("stellar", "star-like"), more commonly known as the Minotaur.

From watching the trailer, you might think that it's a simple subversion: now the bad guy is the good guy, and vice versa. To a certain degree it's true, but here's the trick: while indeed subverting standard expectations, the movie keeps extremely close to the most "standard" versions of the events concerning its characters - Icarus, Asterion, Daedalus, Asterion's stepsister Ariadne, King Minos, Queen Pasiphaë and the Athenian hero Theseus. In fact, I know few films based on Greek mythology (both animated and live-action) with such reverence to their ancient sources.

Yes, the movie begins with Pasiphaë falling madly in love with a beautiful, snow-white divine bull. Yes, Daedalus builds a hollow wooden cow so that the queen may have sex with the animal, and Pasiphaë gives birth to the Minotaur. Yes, Minos will hate both his perverted wife and her monster bastard son and will incarcerate the latter into the Labyrinth designed by Daedalus. And Athenians will murder Androgeus, the elder son of Minos from his previous wife, and Minos will hate Athenians and seek revenge. And Theseus, aided by love-smitten Ariadne, will enter the Labyrinth and kill the beast in a brutal fight. Then Theseus will set sail back home and, mid-way, dump now-useless Ariadne on the island of Naxos.

After that, Minos will hate Daedalus and Icarus. (Did you notice the pattern? Note: Minos is a mythical ruler famous for his wisdom and justice.) The king will imprison the father and the son in the same Labyrinth. They'll escape using wings held together by wax, Icarus will fly too close to the sun and - well, you know what happens next.

Also, King Minos himself, in full accordance with classical myths, is not what you would call a faithful husband, seeking pleasure with his young serving-men (Crete was considered one of the ancient centers of male love). By the way, did I mention that 'Icare' is a kid-friendly movie?

Miraculously, it is. This is a family film advertized as '6+'. All the "adult" themes are heavily hinted at, but never shown explicitly. Many things happen off-screen, much is said between the lines.

Kids can watch it - and, while not understand everything, still enjoy a kind-hearted and tender tale about loneliness, and relationships with your parents, and friendship. Some of them will probably cry. But we show kids Bambi and The Lion King, don't we?

Though the boy Icarus is the protagonist, his friend, Asterion the half-bull, is the heart of the movie: strong, gentle, sad, contemplative, loveable; possessing, as a creature of divine origin, a gift of prophetically seeing the future and telepathic mind-speech. (This one is not from the myths. Still, a great idea.) On IMDb, a reviewer says that, after seeing 'Icare,' their son asked for an Asterion plush.

For adult viewers familiar with the story, who, like Asterion, already half-know where everything is going, it's akin to watching 'Oedipus the King': the characters seem trapped by fate. Almost everything will happen as you expect - but you won't feel about it as you expect. The plot events are basically the same as 2500 years ago; then why does it seem a total subversion?

Because we are not the same as 2500 years ago. The old story stays as it was, but we change. And we're constantly building new bridges connecting the fixed past with the ever-moving present. 'Icare' is one of them.

For those with a deeper interest in Ancient Greece, the movie offers many wonderful details. The bronze statue made by Daedalus in the beginning is a scaled-up version of a "snake goddess" from Knossos; the episode with Theseus and the ring of Minos is taken from a dithyramb by Bacchylides; Pasiphaë looks like women from Minoan frescoes; the designs of the buildings and the interiors are informed by real Cretan archeology; we even get a look at Ariadne's sumptuous dancing-floor mentioned in The Iliad at the end of book XVIII. The story of Daedalus putting a string through a seashell is rather little-known - but it fits well beside the more famous story of putting a thread through the Labyrinth. There are labryes, and tripods, and references to bull-leaping, and whatnot. Catasterism - posthumously ascending to the sky and being turned into a star or a constellation, a common mythological trope - doesn't originally feature in the story of Asterion, but it fits here, too: it's already in his name.

'Icare' is a highly unusual movie. Not for everyone - certainly not for those who seek comedy or action: it's serious and dialog-driven. Its simplistic visual style looks a bit crude. The soundtrack, for some odd reason, heavily uses music by Vivaldi, bringing to mind numerous Baroque operas and oratorios on mythological subjects - other, former bridges from present to past.

But I'm glad I watched it. It's strange and beautiful.