Verso l'Eden

I admit that it was the director's name that made me choose this film from the selection of international films offered by Qantas in their on-board entertainment system on my flight home.

The initial sequence of illegal immigrants on a boat was haunting as they ripped their identification cards and threw them into the water. As authorities came to arrest them, we meet Elias who dove into the sea to escape. He was washed ashore on a nudist beach resort. And from then you know that things would turn for the ludicrous.

It is a cat and mouse game as Elias tries to find his was to Paris to search for a magician who told him to look for him there. On that flimsy premise, the movie became a road trip where Elias encounters and interacts with people who had various problems. Elias was always just the witness of events, but we never find out anything about his past. We do not even know from which country he came from! I kept on watching the film because I wanted to see how Elias would finally fare when he reaches Paris. However when he does meet the magician in Paris, the expected grand finale of Elias' exodus was nowhere to be seen. The crazy visual gimmick that Costa Gavras did on the Eiffel Tower in the ending even made the whole movie look stupid.

Elias, a young man of indefinite origin is one of the passengers of a rickety boat taking illegal immigrants to Europe. As a Coast Guard cutter approaches, all ditch their documents in the ocean and Elias tries to escape swimming. What follows is a sort of comedic Odyssey. He alights on an island that hosts de luxe tourists and befriends a magician that claims to work in the Lido of Paris and tells Elias to look him up if and when he gets to Paris. From then on, Paris is Elias' mythical objective. He manages to reach the European mainland and proceeds in his journey helped only by his wits, his good looks and his ability to run at dizzying speeds from the police. He has an indestructible good nature, and is helped by some strangers and exploited by others. His journey takes unexpected twists and turns, some very funny, and there is a sort of resolution at the end, perhaps only in Elias' mind.

This being a Costa-Gavras film, we expect (and get) some cutting social comment. The Eden of Paris is not the romantic city of tourist brochures. Squads of police in vans are everywhere, deploy in a few seconds and harass bystanders and passersby on the basis of their skin color or their dress. Jobs, if available, are transitory, exploitative and take advantage of immigrants being unable to seek legal help. And, good samaritans beware: a monstrous French law threatens up to five years in jail and/or a fine of 30,000 euros for "assisting an illegal immigrant". Paris stands out as symbol of Europe, the self appointed Cradle of Western Civilization facing a wave of immigration whose desperate last-chance character is a direct consequence of Europe's centuries long predatory practices and constant warmongering in Africa and elsewhere, the bombing and destruction of Libya as a functioning country being a textbook example,

There have been many recent movies on the plight of illegal immigrants in Europe. Perhaps this one is not up to the best in the genre, and perhaps it is not up to the best in Costa-Gavras filmography, but its comedic and dramatic components mesh well and make a harmonious whole well worth watching.

The main character isn't only innocent and naive, but he also is portrayed as good natured as it gets. Now you could argue if that really is possible or if it really works story-wise. But you have to suspend your disbelief here early on. The movie is jumping from one scene to the next, changing many locations and therefor never really builds an emotional connection with the viewer. While the segments are nice and good, the whole experience isn't as good as the sum of it's parts.

It gets even more irritating, when almost every cliché get's played out in the story, letting the main character go through every possible roller-coaster ride an (illegal) immigrant can go through. Unfortunately it doesn't mix as well as one might think (pace and rhythm is all over the place and not in a good sense).

This is just the silliest movie ever made! The adventures of the illegal migrant are all so implausible and unreal. The main character stumbles through the movie like a mute, getting into all sorts of scrapes and sexual trysts. He spends a lot of time nude and uses sex to find a way out of everything. Oddly enough, he never gets a sexually transmitted disease despite having constant sex with random strangers. Most of the time, he plays the role like a 1920s silent movie star, and it wears thin because of the repetitiveness. Overall, it's just garbage and is a waste of time to watch, unless you are into nudity.

I believe this is one of the most poetic ways to talk about a Social problem that his hurting both Africa ,East Europe and the Western World. As a writer for African refugees(but at the end all Refugees carry the same Problems) I believe that Costa Gavras have not only pointed out the negative aspects but also the good. The film also shows the Sexual Exploitation that many young men have to face in order to survive their Clandestinity. In many occasions we see also the Work Labour Exploitation and the prejudice against the Newcomers., but at the same time there are also some "Mother Teresa" Elias played by Scarmacio portrays the struggle the refugees have to undergo not only in-front of the People but the awkward Laws the EU have set out ,giving them the Status of Law Offenders because without Documents. The Film is masterly Directed by Mr. Gavras who he himself found himself to be an Immigrant but in a different time when man was respected as Human Being. African Refugees News The story of Elias can with a bit of Fanthasy be compared to Ulisses Journey.The Eden, I may say was the Island were Ulysses first met his Troubles but gave him the Strenght to fight for his life. I recommend this Film to Sociolgists and People who want to know more about The Boat people and their Journey of Hope to a better Life