Film: Eden (2015) (DLP)
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Writer: Mia Hansen-Løve, Sven Hansen-Løve
Starring:Félix de Givry, Hugo Conzelmann, Roman Kolinka, Pauline Etienne, Greta Gerwig
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Editing: Marion Monnier
Distributor: Ad Vitam Distribution, Broad Green Pictures
Runtime: 131 mins (2 hrs 11 mins)

THE DESCRIPTIONS RECORDED BELOW CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS. PLEASE MESSAGE ME PRIVATELY IF YOU WOULD LIKE SOME SPOILER-FREE GUIDANCE.

About two minutes into the film, we see Paul (de Givry) awakening in the middle of the woods at around dusk. As he looks into the trees, a bright, fiery-red animation of a flying bird is laid onto the nature scenery. While the bird is minimalistic in detail, the colors are very vibrant and apparent. Its presence lasts about five seconds.

At the 14 minute mark, Paul is shown looking through records at his apartment. While he walks and moves around, a camera flash is shown in the very background, just for a quick moment.

Given the fact that the film covers the French electronic house scene of the 90s, the crux of the possible disorientation that Eden could trigger lies in its abundance of scenes that take place in a club/rave setting, replete with flashing lights and colors taking place in most of them. The times and descriptions of these scenes are as follows:

• 4 mins in: Paul walks into a room that contains a colorful, bright wall set against a very dark room. He asks the DJ to play a song; as this song plays, there are some subtle flashing lights in the background. This lasts about a minute, and the scene ends with a sudden cut to bright, white daylight as the opening credits appear over the background. This super-brightness lasts another minute, ending after the letters spelling “EDEN” are shown on screen.
• 8 mins in: An entrance to a “rave dance” party is shown on the screen. Music plays as bright, intense, flashing lights are strewn across the screen. This lasts between 30-45 seconds. About a minute later, the music and flashing lights return, this time more in the nature of a blinking strobe light effect. This second sequence lasts about a minute and a half, ending once the dance floor is exited. A minute later, they re-enter; the flashing lights can still be seen, but don’t fill up the frame nearly as much as before.
• 17 mins in: Another dance party is shown. Bright lights are still present, but aren’t nearly as intense as before. The entire scene lasts about four minutes.
• 35 mins in: This marks yet another party scene in the film. There are some bright, flashing lights here, but they are not very prominent. This whole scene lasts about a minute and a half.
• 47 mins in: Here, a party scene takes place in a disco/club location. There are lots of bright and colorful lights present, although the whole scene only lasts about a minute.
• 1 hr 4 mins in: This time marker signals yet another party scene, this one containing some disco lights. These lights aren’t extremely flashy, but they are still evident throughout. This scene lasts about two minutes.
• 1 hr 18 mins: This marks a montage scene, in which there are a few seconds shown to take place inside a club. There are some colorful lights and blinking “strobe light” moments. This lasts a whole minute overall, with a few seconds of this repeating itself about a minute later, and then two minutes later for another few seconds. This entire montage lasts about four minutes overall and ends with a fade to white.
• 1 hr 25 mins: There is another montage, this one highlighting time passing between 2003 and 2006. This montage contains many instances of club scenes, each containing evidence of bright lights. This entire montage lasts about a minute.
• 1 hr 27 mins: Yet another party scene in a club is shown, with elements of the other club scenes detailed above. This scene lasts about a minute and a half.
• 1 hr 33 mins: A scene that takes place in a bar is depicted at this time marker. This visuals are completely bathed in a neon red light. Later on, there is some dancing, during which there are some bright lights present. This whole scene lasts about two minutes.
• 1 hr 41 mins: This marks a club/concert scene. There are moving lights shown here, though relatively subtle. This instance only lasts between 45 secs to a minute.
• 1 hr 43 mins: A New Years Eve party takes place during this scene. At the start of the scene, fireworks are shown against the dark, night sky for a few seconds. Then, the camera moves indoors for a club dance scene, replete with colorful, quick-moving disco lights. Neon lights are ever-present through this whole scene, and are sometimes rather bright and intense in nature. This whole scene lasts for about three minutes.
• The final third of the film covers Paul’s life post-career and therefore is not nearly as saturated in club scenes with bright lights. However, the end credits feature another dance scene with bright lights that spans the entire run (about three minutes).