Eden

For me, the interesting thing about this film was seeing the possibility that while the woman was unconscious, she was actually having out of body experiences and feeling at peace in a beautiful spiritual cosmic sense. Of course, not everyone with MS is likely to be having the same experience but it had never occurred to me that someone with MS might be experiencing that. I've known people with MS who could no longer communicate and I sincerely hope they felt something close to that.

This was an incredibly moving film. I had heard about it when it was at Sundance and waited to see it when it came out in theatres, but it never came to my area. Then, there it was at Blockbusters. I rented it and was thrilled. It was a moving and spiritual film with incredible performances (especially Joanna Going). It is a perfect evocation of the era (60s). The story, of a woman who has MS and starts to believe that she can leave her body when she sleeps, is a beautiful metaphor. Her dreams start to become almost like a heroin addiction -- a way for her to be able to deal with her life that she can't seem to come to grips with when she's awake. See it. I highly recommend it.

Decent acting. Keeps you wondering where the spiritual part of the movie is going- I am still wondering. Sympathy for a beautiful woman cut down in the prime of life. Good character development except for the father whose acting was one dimensional). Gives a kind of better understanding of the effects of MS and how the rest of us take daily living chores for granted. Also the two background college boarders (friends of Edgar)were unconvincing and did not convey any feelings across the screen that I could discern.

This is a beautiful film about a woman escaping into a cycle of involuntary astral projection experiences and making the difficult decision of coming back to her body and her life. For anyone who has suffered through the limitations of physical disability or disease, this film is a gift. And it's recommended viewing for anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of illness and death. Should be seen by every medical practitioner in the country.

This movie could be a hit if they'd edit out the kids and the crow...

I watched it on TIVO sped through it the first time (gave it one thumbs down). For some odd reason (guess the description caught my attention) I TIVOd it again.

This time I let it run on a Sunday afternoon whist cooking an early dinner...sorta like company. When the scene where Joanna describes the human body as a vehicle (I like container) caught my eye/ear I began to pay attention.

From that point forward, I found that Helen (Going) and Dave (SPF) interactions to be quite engaging.

I finally sat down to eat when Helen asked the boys if they'd ever seen their bodies from above. I relaxed, ate my steak and watched the rest of the movie.

I loved the ending line so much I played it a couple of times and decided to "watch" Eden a third time.

I found that I was speeding through the painful and superfluous family footage stopping only for the interactions of Helen and Dave.

As a video editor, it was clear to me that a really great, interesting spiritual movie could be cobbled together using the existing cut. Simply by editing out the kids and the crow a terrific movie would emerge..try it yourself.

There are so many great monologues and dream sequences in this movie it'd be worth the effort just to get the message out.