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I think I remember hearing about Eden, I’m sure one of you Outposters mentioned it. I came up the other day, with a good cast, and directed by Ron Howard. Go on then, I’ll give it a go.
Eden stars Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, Sydney Sweeney, Jonathan Tittel, Felix Kammerer, Ignacio Gasparini, and Richard Roxburgh. Howard directs and co-writes with Noah Pink.
The Story
The story of Eden is based on a true story:
Follows a group of people fueled by a profound desire for change; in order to turn their back to society they leave everything behind and set their futures on the harsh landscape of the Galapagos.
The year is 1929, and Ritter (Law), and his wife Dore (Kirby), have given up the rat race and decided to go and live on a small island in the Galapagos. Ritter has lived there for many years and has started writing letters about his new philosophy of life. His letters take an age to get back to the mainland, but people read them with interest around the world, as they are published in some newspapers.
Some think that Ritter is a genius and want to join him. Heinz (Brühl), his wife Margret (Sweeney) and their son turn up out of the blue. They have read Ritter’s memoirs and want to join him. Ritter isn’t keen on people invading his ‘Eden’, but lets them stay, hoping they will give up after a month or so.
Life is hard on the island, but Heina makes a go of it, and the two families stay out of each other’s way. All is good.
Enter the Antagonist
After a few months, the Baroness (De Armas) turns up, with the same idea, living the quiet life out of the rat race. However, she thinks others should be able to do the same and would like to build a hotel on the island.
Ritter sends her and her ‘companions’ over to Heinz’s side of the island, hoping they will all fight each other and leave.
When Ritter and Heinz finally learn what the Baroness is up to, they have to stop her. The funny thing is, back in the real world, the Baroness was a big deal. She had money, prominence and would use her feminine wiles to get what she wanted. As her money runs out, she finds her life isn’t as much fun.
She can usually buy her way out of anything, but she can still bargain for things with sex. It all gets messy.
The Cast
As I said, Eden has a great cast, and everyone here is really good. Law’s Ritter is German and a brilliant man, but only in his mind. His wife, played by Kirby, struggles with illness and the harsh reality of living on the island.
Bruhl and Sweeney are again both excellent. Major Kudos for the makeup artist who managed to make Sweeney look really dull and boring, which is no mean feat.
The star of the show is De Armas, though. You know how a good bad guy can really make a movie shine? This was De Armas in Eden. She is a bit of a bitch when she first arrives and gets worse as the movie goes on. She’s a spoiled brat back home, but as her money means nothing on Eden, she’s stuck trying to get her way, with no real bargaining chips.
I really started to hate the Baroness towards the end, she was a right cow.
Nudity
I had heard there was nudity in the movie, and there is. I didn’t really want to see Law’s willy, but what are you going to do? Although stark naked, the man looks good. I have a bit of a ‘veranda over my top shop’.
There is also one of the Baroness’ companions nude, which again, I didn’t need to see.
Since Sweeney is in this movie, you expect her to get nude, and she kind of does. She breastfeeds a child, and I’m all for that. It’s one of the most beautiful, natural sights in the world, but sadly, there’s a baby in the way, sucking on it.
Overall
Eden is a really good movie. There’s no airs or graces, there’s no fancy CG, it’s just a good story with a great cast. The fact that it was based on a true story makes it more interesting. Over the end credits, there is original movie footage of the real people.
It was one of those movies that sat with me long after, raising interesting questions about it. What happens if you try to set up a society without money? If you took money away from someone who has lots of it, how would you cope? Is money the only bargaining chip?
There are so many more levels to Eden to explore, it was a really good watch. Howard generally always delivers a good movie, and this is one of his better ones.
I have to mention De Armas again, though, as the antagonist. She really plays the ‘bitch’ well. At first, you like her, you like that you could spend time with her, as most of it would be in bed. However, she knows how to get her own way and wrap guys around her little finger.
As that starts to unwrap, she starts to lose control, and everyone sees her for who she really is. It was delicious to see it all unfold.
Eden is worth your time. I will probably see it again at some point. I’m giving it a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It’s on VoD and other streaming services.
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