Beautiful dramatisation of a scene that mattered to those caught up in it

davideo-2

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Paul (Felix de Givry) is a young man living in a Paris suburb in the early 90s, who has an amazing ability to produce catchy dance tunes on electronic synthesizers that are catching the attention of his local community. These are skills that take him to dizzying heights as the dance music craze takes off, taking him on a journey around the world DJ'ing at the top venues and making a name for himself, only to go crashing down into a self destructive cycle.

There is a tendency to measure a music movement or scene only by the mainstream element, rather than focusing on a more cult segment that is arguably more active and has more followers. To those who followed the dance music scene throughout the 90s and into the 00s, looking back it's eye opening to see what a scene it was, and the impression it left on those who followed it. Certainly, to those who were frequenting the clubs at the time or, like me (being too young to get in!) collected the various compilations of the tracks released on CD, Eden will bring back many happy memories, and most likely have them up and dancing throughout, like a modern day Saturday Night Fever!

Happily, it's also a success on an artistic level as well. While at first it feels slightly over laborious, throughout the course of the film it truly develops into an engrossing, absorbing tale over the course of a young man's life, following him from humble beginnings, personal tragedies, hitting the big time, before coming full circle and crashing down spectacularly. And better yet, lead star de Givry carries the lead role perfectly, turning in a multi-layered performance and conveying a wide range of emotions that capture the psychological escalation of the character perfectly.

This foreign language effort shines a light wonderfully on a magical little scene in music that had a big impact on those who followed it, who will appreciate it even more after seeing this film. And, if all that's not enough, you can marvel as a central character transforms Showgirls into a misunderstood American art piece. *****

score 10/10

davideo-2 15 August 2017

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3781257/