OUTSIDE IN TOKYO JAPANESE
COSTA-GAVRA INTERVIEW

Costa-Gavras: Eden Is West

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Does this film fit in the line with all your films including such work as “Z”?

I am not sure if there is a direct link, but it is linked through my filmography. But the story is different. The world depicted in them is different. The time is different, which makes the film different. It is different technically from my other work. It is different aesthetically and the style of storytelling is different.

With this film, you seem to trying to draw in the audience in a more unconscious way than addressing problems in a direct way.

I am sure you understand this but while this film is about Elias’s story, it also talks about people in the west. How we, as people in the west, live, and how we act when encountering people like Elias. How we accept him and how we do not accept him. For example, how we exploit him sexually and how we make him do things he does not want. So it depicts the two worlds: Elias’ and ours.

If you’ve received opinions from people who were not happy seeing the situation in the film, what did they have to say?

There were two types. One of the negative reactions was, they do not see so many police in Paris. This is a lie, some people said. Another point was that this film does not clearly criticize how these people are wrong and how certain things are bad.

And how did you respond?

Well, I don’t respond to every reaction I get. Of course, there were many positive reactions too. Some said there is much poesie, in other words, poetry in the film. There were some positive reactions also that this film talks about our society in a true and consistent way.
As for the opinion about heavy police presence, this is true, because it is seen through Elias’ perspective. Elias fears the police. So in his vision, the police are everywhere, whereas we who may not be so scared of the police will not notice them so much.

I do happen to recognize them a lot. By the way, why did you decide to bring in a place called Eden?

In the bible, as you many know, Eden means paradise. But when you say the paradise of the west, even in English and French, it becomes kind of vulgar. So instead of calling it paradise, I named the place Eden. When you call it Eden, it gives a mysterious ring than just a paradise.

Why did you decide to end the film at this place in Paris?

That is because it is in the center of Paris. For him, the Eiffel Tower represents hope. Paris is a city of light, a city of human rights and a city of the French revolution, and the Eiffel Tower represents all this. Paris is also the city of the Arts. Artists from around the world come to Paris, and the Eiffel Tower represents this too.
In this scene, magic is no use. Magic cannot help him. So this is a way to show this as well. But maybe Paris, with its reputation as a city of light can help him.

Seeing your films even from “Z”, there is an aspect of entertainment than just raising issues. How does entertainment fit into your filmmaking?

Entertainment is important. We go to the cinema for entertainment purposes. When we say entertainment, in Greek, we have the word Psychagoia. I like the word because it has the word psyche which means “soul” and the word agoia which means “to learn”. So entertainment is to make the soul learn. Film is a popular art form from its beginning. It also talks about society. As far as entertainment goes, the classic Greek tragedies are entertainment and Shakespeare is entertainment. The films by the great directors Kurosawa and Ozu, the great works in America, Japan and Russia are entertainment and yet talk about society.

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