Eden Is West

A young man washes up on a Greek resort island after his smuggling boat is raided by the coast guard. A magician at the resort invites him to look him up in Paris — and from that moment, Paris becomes his mythical destination. Costa-Gavras, best known for his unsparing political thrillers, takes a lighter touch here: a Chaplinesque modern Odyssey that crosses contemporary Europe through its back doors. What the film understands is that for those without papers, the continent that calls itself a home of civilization is mostly a series of walls. The warmth and absurdity are earned, not naive.