Eden Log |
  • France • 2007 • 98m •   • Directed by: Franck Vestiel. • Starring: Clovis Cornillac, Vimala Pons, Zohar Wexler, Sifan Shao, Arben Bajraktaraj, Antony Rea, Antoine Helou, Abdel Kader Dahou, Tony Amoni, Antonin Bastian, Joachim Staaf, Benjamin Baroche, Zakariya Gouram. • Music by: Alex Cortés, Willie Cortés, Seppuku Paradigm.      A man wakes up deep inside a cave. Suffering amnesia, he has no recollection of how he came to be here or of what happened to the man whose body he finds beside him. Tailed by a mysterious creature, he must continue through this strange and fantastic world. Enclosed, Tolbiac has no other option to reach the surface than to use REZO ZERO, secret observing cells in this cemetery-like abandoned mine. He embarks upon this journey guided by the roots of a plant, leading the way and the main subject of attention of the REZO.
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Review:
Eden Log opens with a man awakening in a cavern. We see flashes of the action, which we come to find out is caused by a strobing light. As the man shambles through the cavern he finds his way to what appears to be the entrance to a place called "Eden Log". As I watched this French Sci-Fi thriller I was struck right from the start that it felt almost like the plot of an Action AdventureSurvival video game. As the plot progresses I think this idea is only more enforced by the story and imagery presented to us.
One of the weaknesses and strengths of the film is that you are dropped into the middle of the over all story. However, you are faced with this dark, underground world the same way that Tolbiac is. It enables you to put yourself into his shoes as he stumbles around in the dark with no memory of who he is or where he is. The reason that it is a weakness is that some people will be turned off by this. I found it all the more engaging to have to put the clues together with him as he journeys upward to what we assume will be freedom.
As we journey upward we run into mutant creatures, and this is where the film takes a turn toward Sci-Fi horror over thriller. The introduction of the monsters is very clever because they are kept off screen most of the time. We are only given glimpses for a good while of what the monsters are, and this builds the terror that they create. Also the entire opening of the film is almost in black and white using high contrast lighting. This gives the film a film noir look, and also builds the suspense as Tolbiac travels through the caverns. In fact it wasn't until a little way into the film that I realized that it was in fact not shot in black and white. The film's color is actually desaturated to such a degree that it is almost none existent. I loved this because it worked wonderfully with the setting and mood of the film.
The last thing I want to mention is the cinematography. Eden Log is shot beautifully, and is visually stunning. The camera is used in a beautiful way to capture the scenes perfectly. Add this to the lack of colors, lighting, and the soundtrack and I was hooked very quickly. If you are at all into films like Event Horizon or other Sci-Fi thriller films I highly recommend Eden Log to you. If you are not as into Sci-Fi thrillers you might not enjoy Eden Log as much as I did. For fans of this type of movie I give it a 5 of 5. For people who might not care for it as much I give it a 4 of 5.
Review by overcranked from the Internet Movie Database.
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