As the former owner of a series of high-profile West Berlin nightclubs (think Rolling Stones hangouts), Eden has devoted considerable time and money to ensuring his ongoing tabloid press coverage. Yet Dörfler manages to get beyond the face-lifts and the glamour, presenting Eden as a conflicted Jew (his parents fled Germany for Israel in 1933, and he served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war before returning to Berlin in the 1950s), a deep-pocketed friend and a periodically attentive father to his seven children (by seven women).
Dörfler’s film is a polished yet touching look at an inscrutable personality whose dearest wish – to avoid any sight of suffering – comes over as cogently reasonable. Join us on Monday, September 24 at Lichtblick Kino for a screening of the playboy picture and Q&A afterwards.
The Big Eden, Sep 24, 20:00 | Directed by Peter Dörfler (Germany 2011) Showing 24 September at EXBlicks | Lichtblick-Kino, Kastanienallee 77, Prenzlauer Berg, U-Bhf Senefelderplatz
