Eden

There are moments when we all wonder how it was that time and tide washed us onto the shore of the lives we're currently living. An interesting if also sometimes taxing French drama, Eden tries to capture that drift of experience over 20-plus years in the lives of several techno-music DJs, who ride a wave of enthusiasm for electronic rave sounds in Parisian clubs. Inevitably, of course, that wave flattens, as do the characters' fortunes. Director Mia Hansen-Løve largely focuses on Paul (Félix de Givry), whom viewers first meet as an optimistic kid in 1992. Paul is captivated by dance music that he can create through sampling and manipulating ever-shifting beats. As the years pass, Paul partners with Stan (Hugo Conzelmann) to form a DJ duo. The two prove to be a hit and briefly become a sensation in New York. Along the way, there are drugs, tragedies, changing trends, and romances that sizzle and fizzle (Greta Gerwig brings a whimsical, ethereal presence to her role as the true love that Paul lets slip away). By the early 2000s, there is a sense that these declining champions have fallen into the trap of constant, desperate reinvention. Unfortunately, while Eden tries to be philosophic, much of the film is shapeless—a blurry succession of club scenes and relationship disasters. Not a necessary purchase. (T. Keogh)