Edén log

I am glad to read the positive comments about this film, but also I can understand those who found this film slow and were not able to enjoy it. I think film is dedicated to a narrow audience: One must be moved by archetypal imagery alone (I mean the lack of gripping plot here) and enjoying just the atmosphere; without motion, without anything for the conscious mind.

At the beginning I was at once gripped by the atmosphere. Scenery, camera motion is the best part of the film. (If you don't watch this film in the cinema, complete darkness is advised.) The nearly-monochrome images, the play with light and darkness is used artistically and originally to keep us perplexed and uncertain; to show us the struggle for consciousness of man.

The viewer is so to say forced to identify with the protagonist. Here the camera viewpoint is very important and very well done. The camera shows the scene always from the protagonist's viewpoint or he himself.

While watching the viewer (or at least I) constantly tries to grab a wider view of the actual place, but he can not do that; his view is narrow as is the protagonist's. Thus the viewer is able to empathize with struggle of the protagonist, feel hes fear, anger, struggle, anxiety. This is combined with the lack of information and understanding about what is going on so again we feel uncertain and perplexed.

I love archetypal imagery and I am satisfied by them alone. Thats why I didn't feel the movie lacks the plot. But I cant deny it lacks. I actually love the uncertainty it has. I must admit, that I don't understand everything, and that is maybe not the end I would write to it. But thats it. I still love it this way.

And just because I read in an other comment... The rape-lovemaking scene is just perfect. It is so natural. And again I like the play, the uncertainty.... is it rape? is it love by first sight? is it a natural ground-and-earth way that ADAM and EVE meet? who knows....

So... thank you for this film!

"Eden Log" is one of those rare films that puts you into a surreal environment, forcing you to figure out throughout the film what the hell is going on, along with its main character. The awkward environment, the modest budget and the slow (for a recent film) pace may scare off many people. Nevertheless, this film has a lot to offer to those who's looking for something different. "Eden Log" is anything like any film I've ever seen.

This film is not for everyone. The plot and the scenery are anything but mainstream, however those who're into a more experimental kind of movie may what they're looking for. Watch it at your own discretion.

Didn't expect much when I started it and thought it might be some kind of horror like "The Descent" to pass some time...

At first, especially during the first 5 minutes I was kind of confused and might've even turned it off, the constantly flashing light and the grunts of the main character put me off quite a bit, until the story started to unfold and I got to watch one of the better Sci-Fi's I've seen in the last few years.

I guess the movie is either underrated because people turned it off in the very first few minutes or because they expected a horror-movie/didn't pay enough attention to understand the plot.

It was great to see the hero start with a completely clean slate, while discovering what is going on all around him and uncovering the plot and the setting of the movie-world to finally even find out about his true identity and still do what he deemed right with all of his newfound experiences and pieces of information in the back of his mind.

For me it's somewhere between a 7 and a 8, I gave it a 8.

Eden Log is somewhat of a good surprise for a french scifi movie. Think of a arty and elaborate form, beautiful black and white photography with rare under lit colors.

What matters here is the mood more than the script, the first half of Eden Log is just the claustrophobic graphic story of a guy covered in mud trying to get out of a dark and low-tech labyrinth, with no memory at all of how he got there. There are very few dialogs, and there aren't even necessary.

Unfortunately, the last third of the movie doesn't quite lives up to it's beginning, the script is somehow too confuse and too explicit at the same time, and the dark and mysterious image of the beginning vanish due to the necessity of writing an acceptable end.

Still i would recommend this movie, it has a very original tone and form, rarely seen these days, and manages to create something on its own, aside from both the Hollywood scene, and the overall shitty genre french scene (if you've seen Chrysalis, you exactly know what i mean !) More than that : If you're fan of graphic and kind of arty movies like Tarkovsky's Stalker, Cube, Aronofsky's Pi, Caro & Jeunet's Le Bunker De La Dernière Rafale, that Forsaken thing or Guy Maddin's pictures you should definitely check it !

It all starts off in atmospheric style, pitch blackness pierced by the occasional flash of light, only giving you brief glimpses of the strange subterranean world the amnesiac protagonist awakes in. It fills you with the same sense of intrigue and unease that "Cube" did so brilliantly, but whilst that movie managed to sustain it, the constant darkness and drawn-out pace of "Eden Log" soon starts to grate.

There's some nice looking shots in here, and a genuinely interesting premise, but the movie literally keeps its audience in the dark for far too long about the details, meaning that it outstays its welcome and by the time the admittedly impressive finale comes around you're unlikely to care anymore.