Eden à l'Ouest (Eden Is West) (2009)
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100% of critics liked it
(6 reviews) -
62% of users liked it
(627 ratings)
One man's dogged search for freedom and a better life leads him on a picaresque journey in this comedy-drama from celebrated filmmaker Costa-Gavras. Elias (Ricardo Scamarcio) is a young man from a nameless country in the Mediterranean who has tossed away his passport and paid a smuggler a… More One man's dogged search for freedom and a better life leads him on a picaresque journey in this comedy-drama from celebrated filmmaker Costa-Gavras. Elias (Ricardo Scamarcio) is a young man from a nameless country in the Mediterranean who has tossed away his passport and paid a smuggler a handsome fee to be hidden inside a ship making its way to Europe. When immigration authorities stage a surprise inspection, Elias jumps ship along with a number of other unauthorized passengers, and hours later he washed up on the clothes-optional beach of a luxury resort on the Southern coast of France. Wearing tattered clothes amidst folks who wear designer originals when they bother to dress at all, dogged by hunger while guess nibble at lavish open buffets, and presumed to be a laborer by the few guests who pay attention to him, Elias is a stranger in a very strange land as he tries to avoid immigration police and survive in a place where he can't speak the local language. Elias stumbles into a brief affair with Christina (Juliane Köhler), a German tourist looking for kicks, but he fares better when he meets Nick Nickelby (Ulrich Tukur), a traveling magician who gives Elias a job as a temporary assistant and invites him to visit him in Paris. When Nickelby moves on, Elias decides to make his way to the fabled city, which is the beginning of a long and sometimes dangerous journey though class-conscious Europe. Eden à l'ouest (aka Eden Is West) was screened at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival only a few days after its world premiere, appropriately held in Paris. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Costa-Gavras
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Feb 11, 2009 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Jason Di Rosso, MovieTime, ABC Radio National
The tone of the film, despite some pretty hard living, remains warm with flashes of magic realism. This works against our expectations for this kind of road movie, and may seem too saccharine for some. I enjoyed the journey.
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Mark Demetrius, FILMINK (Australia)
Costa-Gavras scores a few telling points -- about the callous crassness of privileged tourists, for example -- but whatever his intentions, the end product is essentially a rattling good yarn.
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Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald
The tension is always between Costa-Gavras's dark view of human nature and his main character's hopes for the future. It's an uneven battle, although the film has enough strong and thoughtful moments to make you wish it was better.
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Jim Schembri, The Age (Australia)
The brightest, most-entertaining film of [Costas-Gavras'] illustrious career.
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Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
Director Costa-Gavras takes his own story as a Greek immigrant living in Paris to inject a personal touch to the story in which handsome Riccardo Scamarcio's asylum seeker Elias finds nothing but the unexpected as he looks for a new life
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Cast
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Riccardo Scamarcio
as Elias
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Juliane Köhler
as Christina
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Ulrich Tukur
as Nick Nickelby
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Eric Caravaca
as Jack
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Igor Raspopov
as Leonid
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Florian Martens
as Guntner
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Antoine Monot Jr.
as Karl
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Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos
as Elias's Friend
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Léa Wiazemsky
as Nina
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Tess Spentzos
as Nina's Friend
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Kristen Ross
as Nina's Friend
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Sella-Melina Vasilaki
as Hostess
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Gil Alma
as Bob
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Marisha Triantafillidou
as Director of Club
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Constantinos Markoulakis
as Yvan
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Mona Achache
as Mari Lou
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Alexandrei Bancei
as Bernard
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Jean-Christophe Folly
as Singer/Musician
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Ina Tsolakis
as Leonid's Wife
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Vitalyk Field
as Leonid's son
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David Lowe
as Fred the American