Eden Is West

2009

110 mins

Directed by Costa-Gavras
88%
64%
Comedy
Drama

A French comedy-drama following Elia (Ricardo Scamarcio, My Brother Is An Only Child), a Greecian who has paid to be... More

A French comedy-drama following Elia (Ricardo Scamarcio, My Brother Is An Only Child), a Greecian who has paid to be smuggled on a ship bound for France. When a coast guard comes aboard to inspect the vessel, Elia jumps ship and swims to shore. He finds himself washed up at a nudist resort.

But with the police on constant search for illegal immigrants, Elias leaves and heads for Paris. On his way he encounters various characters, including reckless bisexual truck drivers Gunter and Karl, and a dowdy Greek mother-of-two who watches him while he sleeps. Loosely inspired by The Odyssey.

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Eden Is West | Ratings & Reviews

88_%8 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes® rating
64_%680 reviews
Audience score rating

"Evoking Homer's "The Odyssey," but in fact more closely resembling a contempo Candide yarn, Greek-French vet Costa-Gavras' "Eden Is West" is a playful modern fairy tale about a serious subject: illegal immigration into the "paradise" of West Europe..."

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Variety

"It's an engaging story and Scamarcio, who impressed in My Brother Is An Only Child, carries the film with natural ease as he uses his looks, charm and vulnerability."

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Urban Cinefile

"It's a good idea but Costa-Gavras never quite brings it off, partly because the tone is too pessimistic. Sticking it to Europe's decadence becomes the loudest note, robbing most of the characters of their humanity."

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Sydney Morning Herald

"For all its mixed messages about illegal immigrants, Eden is West has interesting characters and locations, tiptoeing about farce to emerge as an entertaining road movie."

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