IFFR – Film Review: Éden

Bruno Safadi’s Éden centres on Karine (Leandra Leal) and her persuasion into the evangelical Church of Éden. Heavily pregnant and mourning the recent death of her baby’s father, Karine is guided into the role of “ambassador” for the church and to spread Pastor Naldo’s (João Miguel) message of family values, forgiveness, and turning the other cheek. Despite more than a handful of truly gripping scenes, a well deserved Best Actress prize for Leal at the Rio Film Festival and some plot twists, Éden never seems to reach the climax it teases us with.

Karine’s entry into the church is less of a conscious decision and more one shepherded by circumstance. Her grief and physical condition lead her into the arms of Pastor Naldo, who quickly puts her to work as an individual chosen to spread his message. The path from new arrival to ambassador is punctuated with flashbacks from earlier moments in Karine’s life, and it is only when Pastor Naldo goes one step too far that Karine once again finds her strength and decision-making power.

Much has been written about Éden’s visually poetic opening scene – the single tear that escapes Leal’s left eye as she is surrounded by the sky-blue colour of the swimming pool in which we find her. Even more powerful, however, is the early scene inside the Church of Éden. The hypnotic sounds of the notes being sung, together with the rhythmic swaying of the participants, literally drags you into the sweltering cramped church. Miguel’s perfect performance of an evangelical leader amongst his congregation manages two things – the ability to let you see his true narcissist self and to experience the effect he has on his desperate to touch him, followers.

Symbolically, Karine enters the church at her weakest moment, lost in grief. And she leaves it at what could be her strongest, giving birth alone and unaided. But despite the whole circle metaphor – we meet Leal in a swimming pool and see the film end with her giving birth in one – it is hard to feel any transformation has taken place within her. As the closing credits roll, the direction that her life could take is wide-ranging, and the viewer is left none the wiser.

[youtube width=”500″ height=”375″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP6KpvQwcWg[/youtube]

With Éden, rather than criticize the world of evangelism, Safadi has presented one story from its overall landscape, and he has managed to present it in a way that is almost void of judgement. At 75-minutes long, Éden is short on plot but full of powerful acting, and intense scenes. And with the passion that Safadi and his cinematographer Lula Carvalho were able to enthuse into scenes such as the church members walking through town, the shooting of Karine’s lover and the early church scene, Safadi is a name to watch.

[box] Seen: International Film Festival Rotterdam 2013

Production Company: TB Produções, Greengo Films

Producer: Bruno Safadi, Jan Roldanus

Cast: Leandra Leal, João Miguel, Julio Andrade, André Ramiro, Cristina Lago, João Zappa Director: Bruno Safadi

Writer: Antonia Pellegrino, Bruno Safadi

Cinematography: Lula Carvalho

Editor: Rodrigo Lima

Music: Guilherme Vaz.[/box]