SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

J D This movie is really about pursuing ones dreams and what happens to people during that process. The main character pursues his dream of music, in this case being a DJ in the early 90s French clubbing scene. Not everyone succeeds and some people lose their way. Paul (arguably) lands somewhere between those two ends.Paul reaches some success, but as times change and tastes in music change, Paul is either not able to change with them or refuses to do so. Paul gets mixed up with some harder drugs, like cocaine and racks up quite a bit of debt. As his popularity declines and the scene changes Paul is left behind.I was energized by the successes portrayed at the beginning of the movie and as Paul's life spirals downward, a sense of melancholy approached.I think too many people confuse these feelings as a failure of the film, but the way I see it, the film is nothing more than following a mans life and his passion through the passage of time.Overall I felt it was a great movie and my only disdain would be the quick segway from Pauls admittance to having a drug and financial problem to his mother, to his overcoming of these issues. There is literally no explanation or time spent between the two. To be fair, the movie already clocks in at over 2 hours, so it was probably not possible to explore this portion of his life too much.As far as the music goes - I can't recall any movie taking the genre seriously and I am glad to see a film finally do it.Anyways, the movie is interesting, nostalgic and worth a look.

svikasha "Eden" starts out in 1992. Rock and roll and disco are both dead. But in the seedy nightclubs and warehouses throughout Paris, a new music form begins to emerge. Electronic music is born. It is called "garage music" and "house music". The names are homage to the garages and warehouses where the original raves and parties that allowed this music form to thrive took place. Like many French youth in the 90's, Paul Vallée, the main character of "Eden", enjoys going to raves. He eventually drops out of college and partners with his friend Stan to form a musical duo called Cheers. At this same time, two of his other friends form another group called Daft Punk.As the movie progresses, Paul abandons his writing and college ambitions and pursues a DJ career that takes off. Paul's passion for the music shows as he describes it as a beautiful combination of robot and soul. It is a love for that smooth sound that is what brings the two main characters of the film together to pursue the elusive career of a disc jockey. Back in the time of vinyl records and Polaroid pictures, the term DJ was a fairly accurate representation of the profession. But another cultural phenomenon emerged in the club scene where the two protagonists thrived: rampant drug use. Although cocaine is still in use today, ecstasy has replaced it as the drug of choice in raves. Rave culture is intoxicating. It sucks in Paul and consumes him.The 2014 French film "Eden" is about the rise and fall of Paul and his experiences during his time in the electronic music scene. After facing various hardships, Paul becomes deeply addicted to cocaine. At one point in the film, the protagonist's mother, like a cliché, insists that the main character give up his dream of being a DJ and go back to university. She also callously reminds him of studies speaking of nerve cell deterioration, insomnia, depression, and a whole range of possibly unrelated symptoms to discourage the use of drugs. The character takes this to heart and comes up with the name of his DJ duo, "Cheers", while rolling on "e".After a thoroughly dramatic rise and fall, Pall eventually faces reality. The film concludes in the modern era in the year 2013. smartphones, tablets, and hands-free devices now rule the day. Paul has managed to rehabilitate his life but has to adjust to "normal life" which is far different from what he was used to as a DJ. He continues his abandoned dream of writing by attending a creative writing workshop at night. The film ends brilliantly with Paul encountering a young girl who he reflects his experiences as a DJ with. To Paul's dismay, she coldly replies that the only techno DJ she knows happens to be Daft Punk.One has to really admire the attention to the changing sounds of the 90's and the overall soundtrack. This movie is a must-watch not just for fans of daft punk or electronic music but any music lover looking for a "rags to riches" tale. The film was written by Mia Hansen-Løve and Sven Hansen-Løve. Mia is also the director. Both filmmakers came of age during this transformative era that set the stage for modern electronic dance music. Sven was actually a DJ during this era and wrote "Eden" based on his experiences.

Rendanlovell Eden is a French film about an up and coming DJ named Paul. Sounds like 'We Are Your Friends' doesn't it? Well, it's unlike any other film like this. It isn't a underdog story or a catastrophic failure type of movie. No, this is a film about what it may cost to follow your dreams. So often these days we are prompted to blindly follow our dreams in life. This film shows what could come of following this passion. This is why 'Eden' is so unique. It seems to effortlessly break the mold of films in this genre. And it does it so easily. It may be to slow and unconventional for some but it's real. We helplessly watch as Paul slips slowly into drugs and debt that seems to come with this profession. There is a lot else that this film does right. For example, cinematography. It's a beautifully shot and stylized film. The clubs that our main character bounces between teem with life and color. While the outside world is dark and dull. This subtly shows how our main character subconsciously feels to the world around him. It's an impressive detail that so many other films disregard showing. Granted, this works better for other films but still. Again, the biggest highlight of this film is in it's story. It is able to show, in a realistic way, what toll "following your heart" may have. Not only that, but it also displays how simple it can be to lose yourself into a lifestyle that you may not even be able to afford. It's an impressively constructed story that offers a timely message. Using the 1990's as a backdrop, 'Eden' is able to create a story that feels prefect for our generation. Like, most films that stray from the beaten path, 'Eden' does have some drawbacks. Most specifically in its characters. It never really digs into what makes these people click. Instead it uses them only to progress the message that it is trying to get across. If the film needs someone to have a break down then someone will. Never does it feel like a natural progression for its characters. Things just happen to them if the film feels like they need to happen. This makes the film come off stiff. This makes the dialogue and performances a bit off. Is it good when you really think about it? Sure. But if you are just watching and listening without any thought of criticism then you'll notice that it isn't quite right. Again, this is because it never takes the time to flesh out its characters. 'Eden' is one of the more intriguing films of the year. It offers compelling insight into just how costly life can be. It's a timeless message that anyone can relate to. This coupled with great direction and beautiful cinematography make for a satisfying experience. Yet, it never quite becomes more than just satisfying. Its lackluster characters and stiff all around feel hold 'Eden' back from greatness.

paultreloar75 If you can remember the 60's then you weren't there, is a regularly quoted statement apparently made by Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane. In some respects, the era that Eden is set in could well see a similar attitude being taken. However, I can remember much of the 90's and 00's when sweaty underground basements, seedy squatted warehouses, hidden tree lined copses and loads of other weird and wonderful places served as venues for the underground house music scene that I was an active participant in, both as punter, dancer, dj, and crew.Covering a period of some 15 years, during which our hero Paul remains remarkably ageless, Eden explores a world where French house music was really coming into it's own. The filtered disco beats were certainly prominent in our record boxes and the inexorable rise of Daft Punk was something that I think, with hindsight, we should have all seen coming. However, just like Paul and Stan and Arnaud and the rest, we never really noticed them for a lot of the time, caught up as we were in our own loves and losses and general craziness.This is certainly a very French movie by anyone's description, moving along at it's own pace, lots of space and moodiness and an ambiance that I found quite deceptive looking back. Initially, events and characters are revealed and unfold in rather a random and slightly disconcerting manner. However, as certain constants start to repeat, we start to make more sense of the world we're immersed in, something which I felt was a deliberate attempt to mimic or mirror how our band of brothers and sisters are forming and norming as they say.The music and the soundtrack are to die for, utterly spot on and a joy for the ears if you're in a movie house with a decent sound system. We see the dancers enjoying the sounds but strangely, we're mainly apart from them – as everyone knows, DJ's don't dance (often because they can't ironically). Again, I felt this separation was quite deliberate, because that's how a DJ views his audience to some extent, a mass of (hopefully) sweaty gyrating humanity coming together in response to their selection of vinyl. The self-absorption is also true, the inability often to understand others and to be focused intensely on one's self, perhaps from spending so much time listening to repetitive beats again and again and again.....to fade... The boys are doing well and travel to the US, which causes it 's own stresses but back home, a tragic event happens that really hits like an emotional hammer blow. This is where I thought things got very interesting, as the period of self-reflection, in the context of a long movie, is short, and although there are repercussions, things are soon, it would seem, back largely to how they were. Except of course, they're not and the inevitable slide towards entropy and unhappiness becomes ever more inevitable. The repeated behaviours again show a lack of willingness to grow and develop, preferring the safety and security of the known ecstatic world, despite the obvious signs of decay within, especially compared to the changing external environment.There's no big bang, there's no final rush, how could there be? Realising your dreams have largely been an illusion isn't going to be a spectacular experience for anyone.