If the Shoe Fits, Driver Wears It
Eden. Is Adam Driver’s latest ‘magnum opus’ and I had the pleasure of joining him in his creative process. He pitched it to me as an art piece about the absence of God and he himself thought of a more Avant Garde way of delivering this.
Even though there isn’t supposed to be a protagonist, we are introduced to (Not) Adam Driver who is a common citizen living in the bright and colourful city named Eden and opens with the denizens of said city going about their day. There is an odd shoehorning of the director’s ‘personal interests’ that becomes more and more evident as the film goes on. Eden has a strange curfew in which the people are told to take off their footwear by a loud alarm; it should be said now that the film has no dialogue and is filled to the brim with metaphors. The absence of footwear is to symbolise the strength of being able to stand on your own two feet. The film then follows a series of twists and turns that eventually leads to the introduction of an unnamed female character who is only revealed to be named Eve during the credits, an artistic choice of Adam Driver. This woman is an actress who is eventually introduced to (Not) Adam Driver and the two eventually become well acquainted. I will leave the details of the rest of the film out of this critique as Adam has stated that it’s important for the audience to make their own interpretation of the film.
Now, how much did I enjoy this piece? With a big glass of the strong stuff, the film is extremely pretentious and could do with some more clarity. Personally, I don’t go to films to train my brain about the intricacies of every little thing. The film having no dialogue definitely didn’t help either and the purpose of its delivery quickly falls apart once an obvious protagonist is introduced. Would I watch this again? I feel like I have no choice, one pass over isn’t enough to understand Adam’s thought process, but I do so with reluctance.