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Eden Log
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Magnolia Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Adam Palcher (25th May 2009). |
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The Film
 This film reels you in from the first scene, with an unknown man waking up in a pool or mud and guck only to find his way through a dark and dingy cave with nothing but a distant blinking light to guide him. The mystery of this movie is set and moves you through a post apocalyptic future like you’ve never seen before. These French filmmakers had so many opportunities to fall prey to the countless clichés of the horror/sci-fi thriller, but it never does. Setting up exposition and background by never giving too much away. The future is dark, bleak, and scary as hell. While lingering mutated monsters are stalking the prey of this unknown place the story unfolds in such an original way of showing, not telling. Giving the audience hints of why these ruins exist and what kind of future this is. We are definitely in the future, but what kind? Are we even on Earth? Who knows? The answer to these questions is, it doesn’t matter. With one of the best looking films I’ve seen in a long time, director Franck Vestiel captures this world in a haunting and beautiful light. The camera is not afraid to move or be placed in an unconventional setting in front of the incredible set design that looks truly original. There are so many interesting aspects to this film, but in my opinion the imagery by far sets a standard that could be copied for years to come. Using light, video and set pieces to keep the story moving but continue to look original and artistic. Not to mention the monsters look grimy, dark and frightening, never using CGI, but real people, which will always scare me more. I don’t even remember this coming through the theatres, which is unfortunate, because if enough people get exposed to this film it could very well be the next cult sci-fi classic. Though this film is original in many ways there are a few films I couldn’t stop thinking about while watching it. The cinematography reminded me of "Event Horizon" (1997) while the story reminded me a bit of "The Fountain" (2006) or a less assuming "Blade Runner" (1982). Now there are probably a few scenes I could live without, but overall I had such a blast with this movie. It may not be for everyone, the pacing is a bit slow and the plot never deteriorates to the nice, predictable ways you would assume. The director Franck Vestiel deserves many praise for taking such a risk on his debut and giving the audience something to think about while still being able to frighten and intrigue them. As well, the performance by Clovis Cornillac is captivating and astounding, it’s not easy to be covered in mud for an entire movie not to mention being in every single scene. I can’t wait to see what is next from this crew of filmmakers and hopefully one day this can be recognized as a modern classic.
Video
Presented in 1080p 24/fps high-definition 1:85:1 widescreen, using VC-1 compression. This film is well worth watching on Blu-ray. Like mentioned above the world created here is dark and bleak and there is almost no color through most of the film, but the creation of imagery with lighting and design gives us an exposed contrast that looks brilliant in transition.
Audio
The audio track is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 48kHz/16-bit. The mix for this film is astounding; a perfect pitch mixture of front and back ends that really brings you into the film, with the back ends being the most impressive. The subtle ambient score and rumble and cackle of the monsters in the background make it feel like your living room is a cave. You will be impressed with this audio track. Subtitles are presented in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish, unless you watch the French Language version of the film (see extras below for more on that).
Extras
The only extra is the French Language Version of "Eden Log" in French Dolby Digital 5.1 with English subtitles. Now for the unexplainable bad news. This is a French film, but the HD version of the film is the English overdub. If you want to watch the French intended version it’s available through the special features tab on the menu, and is presented in standard definition. It makes no sense to me why Magnolia/Magnet would give us the original version of the movie in standard definition. To be honest though I didn’t even realize I was watching an overdubbed version of the movie until the movie was mostly over, there isn’t much dialogue in the film. But still, what the hell? Run time is the same as the film 98 minutes. Unfortunately this is the one and only special feature on the whole Blu-ray.
Overall
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