Eden (2006)

Movie
Original title	Eden
Country of production	Germany , Switzerland
original language	German
Publishing year	2006
length	104 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Michael Hofmann
script	Michael Hofmann
production	Michael Jungfleisch
music	Christoph M. Kaiser , ; Julian Maas
camera	Jutta Pohlmann
cut	Bernhard Wießner , ; Isabel Meier
occupation
	Josef Ostendorf : Gregor; Charlotte Roche : Eden; Devid Striesow : Xaver; Leonie Stepp : Leonie; Max Rüdlinger : Ludwig; Manfred Zapatka : Xaver's father;

Eden is a German film from 2006 . It is the third film by Michael Hofmann after Trouville Beach and Sophiiiie! .

action

Eden tells the story of the lonely master chef Gregor, whose great love is inventing new delicacies. He owns an exquisite restaurant in a petty bourgeois southern German health resort, where people of old age enjoy square dancing or swimming. In addition to cooking, he often sits in the spa café and watches women. This is how he meets the waitress Eden.

Eden is a young mother who is no longer happy in her relationship. After working in the family business, she is often in the park with her daughter Leonie, who has Down syndrome . Gregor is fascinated by Eden and makes a cake for Leonie for her birthday. Eden tries one of the pralines on the cake and is overwhelmed by the pleasure. She tells her husband Xaver about it, but he falls asleep about it. From now on, Eden meets regularly on Tuesday evenings with Gregor, who cooks for them, while Xaver spends time with his buddies at the local strip club.

Xaver is a failed lawyer who is the announcer for the square dance and the lifeguard for swimming in the family inn. In contrast to Eden, Xaver is unhappy about the daughter's disability and has no real access to Leonie. Xaver is jealous of the eccentric cook when he hears about the Tuesday meetings. With the help of a friend, he shows up in the exquisite Gregors restaurant and is overwhelmed by the culinary skills. His professional failure as a lawyer and his small existence become clear to him and he believes more and more in an affair between the cook and his wife. Eden, however, sees the meeting with Gregor as an enrichment of her life and the relationship with Xaver. She enjoys the treasures that are presented to her, and Gregor is inspired by her. The asexual cook has a photo of his muse on the extractor hood in his restaurant. Eden becomes pregnant again after trying in vain for a long time and sees this wish fulfilled through the change that Gregor has brought into her life. Gregor alone again; The more he improves the relationship of the couple through his actions, the further he moves away from his Eden, which enthusiastically reports on the progress made at home.

Xaver fights for the only thing he has achieved in his life, for Eden. He takes her to Paris for a long weekend, takes her on a cruise and destroys Gregor's existence by ruining his wine cellar. It's an unequal fight between the shy, lonely cook, who has finally been able to open up a little to another person, and Xaver, the quick-tempered loser type that ends in a tragic event. Angry, Gregor is pursued by Xaver when he wants to speak to Eden one last time shortly before he leaves. But Gregor can escape into the forest and hides in a tree, from where he falls exactly on Xaver, who is killed by it. Gregor claims in court that he faced Xaver “man against man” and is then sentenced to imprisonment. After his release, he and his former deaf-mute waiter opened the first rest area snack bar to be awarded a star, where Eden and Gregor met again.

background

Josef Ostendorf, who had already played a supporting role in Michael Hofmann's two previous films, inspired the screenwriter to play Gregor. The dishes from the film (cucina erotica) all come from the hands of Frank Oehler and were published by him in a cookbook.

Reviews

“The thrilling drama, staged in soft tones, condenses into the psychogram of a society in which enjoyment turns into greed and love turns into violence. The culinary art serves as a metaphor for the expulsion from paradise or as a possibility to gain access there. "

- Lexicon of international film