For a certain generation, nothing evokes summer more than slinky electronic beats pulsating through a sweaty night as you dance until the sun breaks the horizon. Before massive festivals and Las Vegas superclubs rendered electronic dance music mainstream, kids were packing cramped warehouses and underground bars to hear the hottest tunes —this is the era Mia Hansen-Løve captures in the upcoming "Eden."
Starring Félix de Givry, Pauline Etienne and Vincent Macaigne with appearances by Brady Corbet, Laura Smet and Greta Gerwig, the film is based on the Paris-based French Touch scene of the ’90s and follows Paul as he dives into rave culture. Here’s the official synopsis:
EDEN is an affecting trip into the electronic dance movement in Paris whose rhythms echo its textures and feeling. Based on the experiences of Hansen-Løve’s brother (and co-writer) Sven, the film follows Paul (Félix de Givry), a teenager in the underground scene of early-nineties Paris. Rave parties dominate that culture, but he’s drawn to the more soulful rhythms of Chicago’s garage house. He forms a DJ collective named Cheers (as, in a parallel storyline, two of his friends form one called Daft Punk, who float throughout the movie), and together he and his friends plunge into the ephemeral nightlife of sex, drugs, and endless music. Shot by Denis Lenoir, Hansen-Løve’s film is a shimmering swirl of color, light and baselines – an intoxicating cocktail of euphoria and melancholy as alive as any nightclub.
Catching the film last year at TIFF, we called it "a slice of life with a personal rhythm and a universal beat." "Eden" opens on June 19th.
