NEWS
EVENTS
Eden: A trip through two decades of French Touch
House | Friday 10th July 2015 | Christina
House music doesn’t often get represented on screen, at least not in a way that’s realistic and truthful, but thanks to Mia Hansen-Løve it looks like that tide is turning.
Eden, set during the rise of French Touch, centres on Paul (Félix de Givry), a promoter and one-half of DJ duo Cheers, who has a passion for Garage (the disco-house music played at the legendary Paradise Garage). It takes us from parties in the suburbs of Paris in the early 90s, a time when DJs had to carry round big boxes of records, not USBs, to huge Cheers parties in New York City in 2001, to the end of the DJ dream in 2013. Unfolding slowly, the film transports you through two decades of a generation and a musical movement.
The group of friends and fellow music enthusiasts that accompany Paul on his rise and fall include melancholic artist Cyril (Roman Kolinka), unpredictable lover Louise (Pauline Etienne) and old scene head Arnaud (Vincent Macaigne). Daft Punk pop up along the way too – there’s a great scene where Thomas (Vincent Lacoste) and Guy-Man (Arnaud Azoulay) play ‘Da Funk’ for the very first time at a house party, and Louise isn’t really into it but Cyril knows he’s hearing something momentous. The film also contains a great comedic motif whereby the Daft Punk boys can never get into parties because nobody knows who they are, even as they become incredibly successful.
Paul is very much the core of the film, with all the other characters orbiting him. As time goes on, his friends change, grow, settle down, even depart, but he remains stuck – devoted to the same music in spite of changing tastes, still indulging his coke habit, struggling with debt and unable to maintain a stable relationship. Eden’s great success is that it presents the life of a DJ as it really is; Hansen-Løve based it on her brother Sven and his time as a DJ (he was part of the real Cheers), and having him on board as a screenwriter has provided that authenticity.
You get the great moments of course; amazing parties, travelling the world, but also the realities; not turning a profit, struggling to sustain a relationship. The good times are good but they can all be over very quickly, as Paul discovers when he throws a New Year’s Eve party on a boat and nobody turns up. Hansen-Løve is adept at portraying the euphoria of the nights but also the downer of the next day. The message is, in very un-Hollywood fashion, you can chase your dreams but they don’t always come true.
It’s not easy to render a club night on screen without falling into cliché but Hansen-Løve pulls it off extremely well. They feel authentic – some people dance awkwardly, some don’t dance at all, some hang around chatting, some just drink by the bar. Anyone who’s seen a Boiler Room video knows that’s what parties are really like. And given that Eden is about a musical movement, a word or two needs to be said on the soundtrack, so here goes; it’s excellent. The music completely captures the period and is a wonderful homage to Garage, with cuts from the likes of Sueno Latino, Frankie Knuckles, MK, Masters At Work, Kerri Chandler, Liquid, and of course, Daft Punk all featuring. It’s a joy to see and hear this music on the big screen. Let’s hope there is more to come.
