The Absence Of Eden explores the current hot-button issue of the plight and uncertainty facing undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border in the United States. The film puts a human face and asks the morally-complex and difficult to answer questions about the subject. Filmmaker, and spouse of star Zoe Saldaña (who plays Esmeralda), Marco Perego discusses his inspiration and intent for his touching story. Perego is both a conceptual artist and filmmaker who cites Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tartonsky and Vittorio De Sica as creative influences.
It all began in 2016, when his sculpture composed of 716 concrete-filled boots representing refugee children fleeing Syria into Perego’s native Italy. Perego and Saldaña would not yet become parents for a few months, but the fate of these refugee children left an indelible mark on them. “That piece was reminded me how an artist is the true journalist of our life,” he says.
Perego is fascinated by world cinema, so he set out making a poignant drama about immigration, one of his fervent interests. “Cinema has this power to touch so many people and have this conversation. Sometimes it’s not an observation. You can quote your life through film and cinema.” He began crafting a drama set on the border with his writing partner Rick Rapoza. Together, they spent almost two years researching and writing their story.
Marco Perego
Marco Perego didn’t ostensibly want to tell a story specifically about immigration, but rather one about our common humanity. The Absence Of Eden doesn’t pass legal judgment on illegal immigration and duly covers perspectives from ICE agents to immigrants. “When you look at a piece of cultural art, I don’t think you need to be suggestive.. you need to feel. My goal was to create a canvas to start the conversation about humanity. Each one of us can be a different and think in a different way.”
The immigration drama is secondary. “People are punished from the start. They jump into the unknown looking for a better life, only to find a reality more devastating than where they were running from,” explains Perego.
When I make an art piece, I don’t feel the need to explain it. I really believe that the moment you explain the art, it loses its power
The Absence Of Eden focuses on the morally-conflicted ICE Agent Shipp (Garrett Hedlund) who excels in his job, but is also romantically-linked to Yadira (Adria Arjona) who is undocumented.
Writing Process
Marco Perego spent significant amounts of time contouring the project to create believable and textured characters with his writing mentor Alex Dinelaris (Birdman). He also took a filmmaking masterclass from Martin Scorsese.
“I wrote multiple versions of the script to try to really understand what the characters wanted.” His mentor kept challenging him to “go through a character to find their truth.”
Marco Perego and Rick Rapoza spent a long time discussing the project before they eventually wrote an outline. Each would outline their assigned scenes and exchange them for feedback. Then the screenplay writing began.
“Maybe I would work in some dialogue. Then he would work in some dialogue. Afterwards, we would meet several times a week and write in the same room.”
The Absence Of Eden went through many story iterations. “You always start with one big idea. Then you add more complicated things to try to make it incredible and extremely complex so you will feel more for your character. You discover the flow of their character,” continues Perego.
These additional layers led to the soul of the film. “It became more alive.”
The movie proceeds at a tense, engaging, and steady clip. “My goal was to try to keep people underwater for over an hour and release them in the end. If you see this film, there is no pause. There’s no breath. I was just trying to create a film where the characters and audience are under a lot of pressure all the time.”
Character
Both Shipp and Esmeralda are morally gray characters. They are both good and bad, but neither good nor bad. They are both protagonists in the film. They have many flaws, but both have tremendous courage. Ultimately, it is a love story between Yadira and Shipp, and by extension, Esmeralda and her family.
Both experience internal angst. In one scene, Esmeralda “silent screams” at the camera when she’s talking with the motel manager who represents the idyllic idea of America she was sold – the one of freedom and endless possibilities. An idea that proved to be far from reality.
Shipp believes that he must handle his dilemma by himself. “Where do I put my faith? In the woman I love or the whole concept of ICE, immigration and the rule of law?” Even after his acceptance in the immigrant community, Shipp painfully lets Yadira go – his purest and most honest expression of love for her. “But for every action in the universe, there is a reaction with anger and frustration with somebody meant to be in your life, but can’t.”
I think it’s like jumping into a live volcano. There’s no grounding for you, no certainty.
“We wanted to write a story about Adam and Eve living in Eden and God is not there. That was the whole concept. We put this poetry from the bible into the mouths of the characters.”
These people are forgotten and live in the shadows. But there is always hope. Esmeralda says, “Don’t worry, the wind will come back.”
The Absence Of Eden also makes some stark statements about class and the exploitation of vulnerable workers. At one point, Esmeralda exclaims, “I come here. I plant your seed and you take it.” Perego wanted to mine that experience. “The emptiness. The exhaustion. The invisibility. Striving without ever being acknowledged. Without ever being seen.”
Another aspect of the film is humanity’s propensity to inflict harm on other people who aren’t like them. Why do people do this to their fellow humans? Why do see them as something less than themselves. “Look deeper inside yourself,” muses Perego, to find the answers.
