Customer Reviews

Eden Log

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Ages ago when I was in high school I wrote an extremely abstruse short story for an English class that was riddled with references that no one could decipher except for myself. I thought it was oh-so-clever, a mini Finnegan's Wake. When after reciting it I was presented with a room of blank stares I proudly went about explaining the symbolism. No one cared. I realized then that if one wants to create both a successful and weird/obscure/dissonant story, at least include a layer that is accessible to the casual reader. Eden Log doesn't make such an attempt.

If an interminably long-feeling movie centered around an amnesiac man groping around in near darkness in an environment filled with broken plastic junk, tubes-n-wires, and columns of tree roots whilst pursued by cheesy looking humanoid monsters sounds appealing then this movie is for you!

The movie is about a not-too-distant world where energy is harvested from an enormous tree. The "power plant" (haha - cute) named Eden Log is a secret subterranean facility where columns of tree root are exposed for study, experimentation, and work associated with energy generation. Eden Log is populated by human subjects, mutants, technical staff, and a militaristic guard. Humans are intravenously given sap from this special tree which does (2) things: 1) creates a symbiotic relationship between plant and human wherein both species develop a biological understanding of the other and 2) humans are subsequently infected during sap exposure and mutated into dumb humanoid monsters that are then boxed and suspended in the tree canopy. The tree generates energy while digesting the subjects. Things would be dandy except that there is a revolt among the Eden Log population forcing an intervention by the militaristic guard.
If this makes any sense at all I promise it makes less sense in the movie.

On another level it's a modern retelling of Genesis and the Resurrection. The main character, the amnesiac, is Adam in the Garden of Eden (Eden Log). He awakens (born), almost naked and wanders around trying to make sense of this new place. Ultimately what he's seeking is knowledge (Tree of Knowledge) but once he obtains that knowledge the damage is irreversible. He meets a woman (Eve) who tricks him into having the tree sap injected into his system whereupon he mutates (Fall of Man). He gets a data disk (apple) containing information pertaining to his own identity and the purpose of Eden Log. In order to solve the rest of the puzzle, the viewer has to link the Garden of Eden to the Resurrection. In Christian lore the fall of man (disobeying God by eating the apple) is the first original sin from which mankind is not absolved from until the sacrifice of the crucifixion. So lock and step, the movie closes the loop by having the main character (forgot his name) sacrifice himself while saying something to the effect of I'm doing this for all of humanity while thrusting a tree limb into his stomach with arms outstretched as if on a cross.
If this makes any sense at all I promise it makes less sense in the movie.

I think the movie would have been tolerable if the main protagonist acted in a believable way. Try to put yourself in this position: you, an amnesiac, suddenly wake up in a dark cave, disoriented, freezing cold in the mud, surrounded by dead bodies, and when finally another person is encountered you ask them ... nothing. Our protagonist just isn't curious about his predicament I suppose. What might you wonder in such a situation? Where am I? Why am I here? How do I get out? Are there any weapons? What is your name? What year is this? Who is chasing me? On and on ad infinitum.

The problem is that everything is so incredibly stupid, slow, and nonsensical in this movie. When a character walks into a big dark cavern we have to watch him slowly walk the entire length of the big dark cavern to get to the other side (60-120 seconds). When a character is breathing heavily trying to crawl up a tube we have to watch them heave slowly through 50 feet of tube (another 60-120 seconds). All this wasted time accumulates. I kept fast forwarding the movie.

I gave it 2 1/2 stars because the movie was compelling enough to watch in its entirety but I will never give it a 2nd viewing and the notion of purchasing this movie is laughable. However, I notice that several reviewers really enjoyed this movie and gave it a high star rating. There is merit to that. Maybe you will like it too.

After reading reviews of Eden Log, and after seeing the movie myself, I agree that you either love it or hate it. There is little room for a middle of the road reaction to this one. As with so many others, it's all about what you expect and appreciate from movies that break the mold of formula and predictability.

I tend to be more in love with the movie for its uniqueness above all else. In a world where everything has already been done, making the newest of movies a clichéd rehash of something seen before, this movie goes all out to avoid those pitfalls, becoming something refreshingly new. Of course, the inescapable and limited themes (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself, etc.) are there, but that's where the familiarities end.

I must stress, however, that creating something new these days also involves a large amount of courage to create what can largely be disliked. The director and writer of this movie had some serious courage, for sure. Eden Log is incoherent much of the time, defying most attempts to make any sense of the plot through the better part of its running time. However, any astute viewer will quickly realize and appreciate the fact that this movie is confusing by intention rather than by chance or failure. Of course, I'm not suggesting that a movie can be good merely because it is confusing. There is, I think, in this movie, order and meaning to be discovered, with enough patience and thought, within all the chaos and confusion. Yes, from the very beginning, the viewer is offered a most unique puzzle to be solved.

The viewer is introduced to the main character in the pulsing bright light of an otherwise pitch-black cavern. As for where this dark place is, no one can possibly know at this point. Even whether it's on earth or elsewhere is not to be known. As we watch the character emerge sluggishly from the mud and muck, we are, with flashing lights and confusion, about as disoriented as the character himself. From there, the character attempts to learn who he is, just as we do, clumsily and often incorrectly connecting piecemeal clues found here and there. Yes, this movie puts the viewer in the first person position, with virtually no objective views of anything. All we see, hear, and experience are as subjective as that experienced by the main character. He is pursued by mutant creatures of unknown significance, through endless passageways that mostly lead nowhere of importance. Of course, I won't go on with anything more; I wouldn't want to spoil the charm of this movie for all those who may choose to see it. Certainly that is the way this movie is best-watched anyway--without a single clue revealed by another viewer. Even knowing what others think it all means is too much. Again, the not-knowing is what truly makes this movie so unique and effective. Some of the best movies leave much meaning to the mind of the viewer, instead of revealing everything there is to think and know. Eden Log indeed plants many unique ideas in the mind of every individual who sees it.

Eden Log could have been another monument to mediocrity, easily forgotten and lost amongst everything else of its kind. It could have played it safe and been like a million other movies getting, at least consistently, more so-so reviews. Instead, it dares to be different and transcends the muck of mediocrity.

Like many other reviewers, I would concur this is a love or hate it movie... and most anyone afflicted by low brow hollywood blockbusters will undoubtably hate this movie. There are plenty of reviews that provide details of the movie, so I won't go there. I will suggest the brainiacs that dare venture into this film watch for a number of clever dichotomies and consider the deeper and evolving social commentary. Nonetheless, this movie isn't brilliant. The acting is sub par. The ending explains more than necessary (although many more would likely hate the movie without such an ending). I'm glad I watched it and have no regrets. Here are other films I find fascinating: City of Lost Children, Blade Runner, Fifth Element, Logan's Run, and Soylent Green. My only challenge is finding whom I might recommend this film to.

Was refreshing to see a good movie that didn't rely entirely on heavy action scenes. I think alot of these reviews dislike the genre more than the film itself.

The initial description of Eden Log left you wondering how the movie would unfold based on the simple concept detailed on the item page. The artwork, however, did it's job to convince me that I wanted to watch this movie.

Now over an hour in, it's odd, unusual and just plain weird. It's a dark film that keeps you watching because it's so peculiar, however you are hoping something more interesting happens soon.

The production level is good, it's not a 2 cent movie, and it's very complex. It keeps you going for some time. Eden Log is a good watch anyway.

This movie grabs you and never never lets go. The movie is Dark and cerebral and one of the few movies I will honestly apply that label. Definitely one of the 20 best movies I've ever seen.

This french made low budget sci fi thriller is throught provoking to say the least. It does also have lots of mutants attacking people. And that's entertaining in itself. However it has lots of sets made up of plastic sheets, this is distracting to a degree and belies the low budget. Also the ending isn't the clearest with a strange voice beaming down upon the lead character within the garden of energy eden?. So this one is interesting but also not the clearest sci fi thriller out there. It is topical though as we are destroying the planet to get more energy. On blu ray the movie looks the best of course with no artifacts and little grain. (grain usually happens on older movies) The film has a english soundtrack as well which is dubbed in very nicely. This one is worth watching for fans of low budget sci fi inspite of it's vagaries in explanation.

This is one of those films that leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions after the first viewing. The film opens with the main character finding himself in a labrynth-like underground facility, giving you bits and pieces of backstory via pre-recorded messages or playback of personal videos, both usually given as projected images rather than via traditional tvs or other screens. Combined with the mostly black-and-white footage, the end result is a very stylish film, which may or may not answer all your questions by the time you're done watching, but is nevertheless worth checking out.

In the words of a previous reviewer, Eden Log is reminiscent of an old school survival horror videogame. Our protagonist (Clovis Cornillac) awakens naked covered in muck with no memory of where he is or how he got there, or even who he himself is either. As the film goes along, we learn along with our protagonist that the strange world he finds himself in is anything but natural, and that he may have more in common with the otherworldly creatures that are making their presence known than he could ever imagine. Deliberately paced, beautifully shot, and definitely occasionally incoherent and confusing; Eden Log is strangely compelling and magnetic to behold. A French film originally filmed in 2007, seeing it finally make its way to our shores is a refreshing thing indeed. Using little dialogue and letting the viewer piece together the proceedings along with the protagonist, director and screenwriter Franck Vestiel crafts a science fiction allegory that displays what the world we live in may in fact one day become. It may take some time to get into and fully understand, but for what it's worth, Eden Log is a unique and worthwhile trip that is definitely worth taking.

Just a month or two ago Magnet botched the subtitles on "Let the right one in" and there was a big online backlash. You would think that they would tread a little more carefully with future releases but then we get this. It turns out that with "Eden Log" the only way to watch a high definition version of the film is with an English dubbed track. The dubbed audio is in DTS master audio which is nice, but if you want to watch the "French version" (the original version) then you have to look in the extras and it will allow you to do this. If you watch the "French version" it will be in standard definition! That's right, if you pay a $10 premium to get the blu-ray of this film and want to see it in its unaltered state with the original language and subtitles then you must do it in standard definition and compressed audio (rather than DTS master audio) to go along with it.

Who do they have handling the blu-ray and dvd releases over at Magnet? Why didn't they just put the subtitles and french audio (in DTS master audio would be nice) on the high definition version of the film and get rid of this standard def version of the film? They are really shooting themselves in the foot with this "six shooter film series".

I'd give the film probably 3.5 or 4 stars though.