L'éden et après (1970)

Director:

Alain Robbe-Grillet

Writer:

Alain Robbe-Grillet (writer)

Release Date:

20 April 1970 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot Keywords:

Surrealism | Allegory | Nihilism | Death | Desert

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Catherine Jourdan	...	Violette
Lorraine Rainer	...	Marie-Eve
Sylvain Corthay	...	Jean-Pierre
Richard Leduc	...	Marc-Antoine
Pierre Zimmer	...	Duchemin
Ludovít Króner	...	Franc
Jarmila Kolenicová	...	Sona
Juraj Kukura	...	Boris
Catherine Robbe-Grillet	...	Foolish women

Also Known As:

Eden a co dialej... (Czechoslovakia: Slovak title)
Eden a potom... (Czechoslovakia: Czech title)
Eden and After (USA)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

France | Czechoslovakia

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:VM18 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Bratislava, Slovakia

Company:

Como Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dr. Christina of Sweden (1970)

Alice in S&M Land or The Post-Modern Marquis De Sade

Philosophical thriller or Post-Modern jigsaw or S&M skinflick - or all three at once - Alain Robbe-Grillet's first colour film is a dazzling, at times frustrating experience. Try to imagine Alice in Wonderland crossed with Story of O and you may get some idea of the perverse sensibility at work behind it. Starting off in a labyrinthine, mirror-lined nightclub called Eden, moving on to a disused factory with huge industrial vats full of sperm, ending up on the Tunisian island of Djerba - with, naturally, a detour through a jet-set torture chamber where glamorous naked women are crucified or suspended in cages - Robbe-Grillet takes his wide-eyed and waif-like heroine (Catherine Jourdan) on a spiritual and erotic odyssey to...what exactly? Sorry, but I don't know either.

Nor does Robbe-Grillet seem the tiniest bit inclined to let us in on the secret. According to a mysterious stranger (Pierre Zimmer) who breaks in on Jourdan and her jaded pals, it's something to do with transcending the limits of rational Western consciousness. Finding a darker and more primitive reality. "Break on through to the other side" - or so The Doors might put it. Intriguing enough in a drugged-up late 60s kind of way, but Robbe-Grillet's own personal "doors of perception" don't seem to open very far beyond a spot of mild flagellation, or some Emmanuelle-style sex tourism on a photogenic Third World beach.

At least the film is exquisite to behold. Its imagery is bizarre and erotic and disturbing. Catherine Jourdan - who went on to make even weirder movies with director/husband Alain Fleischer - is a lovely heroine in the tradition of the Marquis de Sade's Justine. She combines the doe-eyed fragility of a Mia Farrow with the icy blonde sensuality of a Catherine Deneuve. As her lover, Richard Leduc is undeniably handsome - but he seems far too sweet and mild-mannered for some seriously nasty sex-games with a blindfold and a bucket of scorpions. As for any ultimate meaning, you may or may not want to work that out. I suspect most of us would be happier not knowing.

Incidentally, Eden and After is one of Robbe-Grillet's MORE linear films in terms of plot - yet it's also one of his hardest to grasp. Perhaps there's a lesson to be learned from that, but - once again - don't ask me what!

David Melville