Eden Trailer: Celebrate the ’90s One More Time ~ Cinenus

Many trailers really need those pull quotes of hyperbolic praise, because many great films are not easily sold on a quick series of clips compiled in a package of two minutes or less. Eden is one of those films. In spite of all its acclaim out of festivals including Toronto and Sundance, the latest from Mia Hansen-Løve (Goodbye First Love) doesn’t look any more special than any other indie film featuring Greta Gerwig (the trailer makes her out to have a much bigger role than she does, by the way). Not that too many of those are bad.

What makes Eden more notable than the old, mostly forgotten of-the-time rave movies like Groove and Human Traffic? Is it that Eden‘s story continues beyond the turn of the 21st century with a nostalgic or at least retrospective approach? Let’s let our own review by Daniel Walber sort of answer the question (without mentioning those particular now-obscure movies that I enjoyed so much back when I was getting into electronic music like that of Daft Punk, who are actually portrayed in the movie and have two songs in the trailer):

[One of Hansen-Love’s trump cards] is the way that she uses time. Elision is perhaps the most signature element of her directorial style, going all the way back to her first feature, 2007’s All Is Forgiven. Eden‘s script does cover over 20 years, but not in the most intuitive of linear paths. Important events are left out, elided because they are unnecessary … [It’s] a stealthy way to build character, forcing the audience to do a little extra work in understanding who these people are and have become. While the result of these jumps ahead in narrative might initially confuse, they provoke us to rethink who Paul is and why he made the decisions we may not have seen. Nothing ever feels forced into the plot, every hidden breakup or crisis feels natural even though it isn’t played out on screen.

Sounds good to me, but I’m also interested because of my own nostalgia, so hopefully I get double the enjoyment with a special film about subject matter I already love and relate to. Here’s the official synopsis via Broad Green Pictures:

EDEN is an affecting trip into the electronic dance movement in Paris whose rhythms echo its textures and feeling. Based on the experiences of Hansen-Løve’s brother (and co-writer) Sven, the film follows Paul (Félix de Givry), a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris. Rave parties dominate that culture, but he’s drawn to the more soulful rhythms of Chicago’s garage house. He forms a DJ collective named Cheers (as, in a parallel storyline, two of his friends form one called Daft Punk, who float throughout the movie), and together he and his friends plunge into the ephemeral nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music. Shot by Denis Lenoir, Hansen-Løve’s film is a shimmering swirl of color, light and baselines – an intoxicating cocktail of euphoria and melancholy as alive as any nightclub.

Eden opens in New York and Los Angeles on June 19th then expands to other cities.

"Eden Trailer: Celebrate the ’90s One More Time" was originally published on Film School Rejects for our wonderful readers to enjoy. It is not intended to be reproduced on other websites. If you aren't reading this in your favorite RSS reader or on Film School Rejects, you're being bamboozled. We hope you'll come find us and enjoy the best articles about movies, television and culture right from the source.