Finally finished watching the atmospheric French SF film Eden Log last night (note: do not try to watch this on a hangover).
No big review this time, just an observation. I rambled on some time ago about movies eating video games, and this seems to add strength to that argument.
Eden Log seems to have more in common with survival horror-action games like Dead Space (itself notable for using an in-game HUD to maintain the intensity) than plot-centric Hollywood films.
Check out the teaser trailer, this could be a game about to launch on the ‘360:
Seems I’m not the only one to make this connection, over on Fidgit they say of the film:
it draws from a vocabulary that will be very familiar to videogamers. It’s the story about a guy waking up with amnesia and then discovering — and revealing to the players audience — a strange world.
The first film-makers came from a background in the theatre. Nowadays, a century later, a generation is entering that world from a totally new angle.. likely to have spent far more hours playing incredibly immersive games than even watching TV or movies. It is from this very different vocabulary that they draw from. Absolutely fascinating to watch, and in turn see feedback into gaming itself, as the convergence between the two continues to play out.
So while Eden Log’s ending made about as much sense as it’s fellow pretty French SF, Dante 01, did, it is for many reasons very interesting viewing.