The Movie Sounds Better With You - Eden at TIFF 2014

Eden caught my eye early on when I was reading the 300+ film synopsis for TIFF 2014.  Re-reading that synopsis now, I can see what caught my attention ... "EDM", "Daft Punk", "underground dance music scene of early-nineties".  I hate to criticize TIFF's beloved Cameron Bailey, who programmed Eden and wrote the synopsis, but I think that some of the film's essence may have been a little buried in the verbiage.

My preconception of Eden was also further skewed after speaking to a couple friends that had caught an earlier screening of the film.  They reported back that it was mediocre, but maybe in doing so it lowered my initially high expectations so that I wound up enjoying it more.  Also this is where I feel Mr. Bailey's eloquence may have mislead those who are not the target audience to see this film.  That's always a danger isn't it?  You want your film to come across as wide-reaching because you want a lot of people to see it, but if the wrong people wind up seeing it, then you get a slew of disappointing and bad reviews.

But let's focus on my experience with Eden, shall we?

It was the last day of TIFF 2014 and the last movie of TIFF 2014 for me. I staggered from Scotiabank Theatre down to TIFF Bell Lightbox, texting my friend Sachin on the way.  Though we didn't plan it, I couldn't think of a better person to see Eden with than Sachin, who is a friend of about 10 years, with whom I spent countless hours at one of two places - at TIFF or in the clubs.  I have a sneaking suspicion we may have gone to a Daft Punk concert together, and we count several DJs and promoters amongst our mutual friends.  Eden is a French reflection of our lives, our world, and our experiences.

Sachin and I at a club for Halloween 2005

The film is far from perfect, but so is life. I'm not familiar with Mia Hanson-Løve but countless articles tout her abilities in "capturing the intimacy of relationships".  I'm not sure that's best displayed in Eden, unless we're talking about the intimacies of his relationship with music. If anything it showed me how we pass through relationships, some more significant than others, each developing and ending differently, but ultimately a thing that's woven through our lives as a part of something bigger.  If anything, I thought Eden portrayed the intricacies of life itself.

Daft Punk's Toronto show in 2007

Main character Paul's own struggling career is contrasted against Daft Punk's.  Here in Toronto, we could contrast many friends' careers against Deadmau5's - once a candy kid we couldn't pick out of a crowd at a rave of thousands, while other hometown heroes the same age as him took the stage.  Now he's performing at the Grammy's and my old friends and acquaintances are still in Toronto, plugging away at day jobs in order to fund their music careers that are still primarily local performances.

Last Hullabaloo and specimen of digital photography from 2005

Don't get me wrong, this isn't some rave movie, it's not the 2014 version of Go. Even for the portions of the film taking place in the early 90's, Hanson-Løve doesn't go to the trouble of recreating arena rave footage, instead opting for moments of interaction at the door or in the DJ booth.  It's very much about the interactions. And the soundtrack. I was elated by the music and actually a little disappointed that few articles made mention of the excellent music selections.

Photo I took of DJ Joey Beltram in 2006. His anthem track Energy Flash is featured in Eden.

If you have a chance to see the movie (which hasn't been picked up yet, far as I've heard), you will see Paul meeting up with a group of friends - his musical partner, a promoter, and a bunch of people including several girls who are frequently around but not introduced by name in the movie... that would've been me in the Toronto version. (ie. the girl who was essentially nobody, but somehow never had to stand in line to get in ;))

What I'm driving at here, other than the opportunity to reminiscence about my teens & 20's, is that for those who lived it, Sven Hansen-Løve's experiences and contributions to the script of Eden is an accurate and detailed recreation.  It's going to resonate with those viewers,  but I have doubts it will translate to those that didn't maintain a similar lifestyle. While I think Paul's life experiences are very universal - aspirations, girls, drugs, and struggling with a mountain of debt, my own experiences with other films of this genre and even my own filmmaking experiences have taught me that people have trouble seeing past the partying (raving) lifestyle. It's unfortunate.

So... like my previous post about I Dream of Wires, if you're part of that small contingent for which I write these particular blogs, I recommend you keep an eye out for Eden. It's a nice little film and will provide you with hours and hours of reflection afterwards.

If you've read this far, I clearly have your captive attention (or you're really bored, therefore you might as well keep reading) so I'll leave you with a couple random but (presumably) interesting links:

• In my post about I Dream of Wires, I had additional links and nerdy info that I did not ultimately include in the interest of time... One band/group that I've followed for 20+ years is The Prodigy, from the first time I heard Chris Sheppard play "Out of Space" at one of his "live to air" broadcasts in the early 90's.  Liam Howlett is not-surprisingly the proud owner of a lot of synth toys... here is a list. 
• In that same post I also made reference to a film called Modulations by Iara Lee, she also made another film before Modulations called Synthetic Pleasures - focusing on the use of technology (circa 1995) by human beings..."from body piercing to bionics, to transform our environments, bodies and minds in search of pleasure" which is available on youtube --> http://youtu.be/muUklk8pTCE
• Finally getting back onto the topic of Eden, here is a good article I came across about the film and the importance of Daft Punk's role in it.
• Lastly, the title of this post is a play on words, it comes from club anthem "The Music Sounds Better with You" which was co-written by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk.