Rādot cilvēci vissliktākajā, “Ēdenim” ir krāšņi aktieri, kas necivilizējas attālā salā

Ron Howard’s new film “Eden” is the true story of a group of European outcasts who fled their society and retreated to a secluded rock in the Galapagos in the 1930s, only to see their hand-crafted utopia descend into petty power struggles and murder. It’s also a fascinating demonstration that Charles Darwin missed the truly juicy survival of the fittest answer by about a hundred years.

It’s certainly unusual material for a mainstream star like Howard, who knows his way around heroic problem-solving narratives (“Apollo 13,” the Thai cave rescue “Thirteen Lives”). But in screenwriter Noah Pink’s melodramatic take on incidents that are both well-documented and mysterious, you can see this Hollywood veteran on a mission to loosen the shackles of his reputation and have some nasty, brutal fun. The wit: Perma-sneering Jude Law greets the intruders naked; wild-eyed Ana de Armas insults and tries to seduce everyone; Vanessa Kirby lets the lead-in include pulling her ailing tooth; Sydney Switzer gives birth alone while growling at a pack of feral dogs.

The result may not be terribly illuminating about the (sub)human condition, despite its shout-outs to Nietzsche and Schopenhauer. “Eden” is perhaps closer to an expensive reality show about misfit survivalists. But as August fare goes, it’s catchy, sweaty, well-shot, and paced like a miserable beach read, even if you might sporadically wish Werner Herzog had gotten first crack at this material. (It was also covered in a 2013 documentary.)

The first transplants to the uninhabited island of Flora were German botanist Dr. Friedrich Ritter (Law) and his devoted, pained partner Dore (Kirby). Trials that glorified suffering against the world’s wrong turns, the pair sought a radical reboot of society in their rugged isolation, except for the inconvenient fact that Ritter’s brilliant philosophical missions back home were published in newspapers, turning them into eccentric folk heroes. Soon their dear suffering came as new neighbors: idealistic war veteran Heinz Wittmer (Daniel Brühl) and his wide-eyed young wife Margret (Sweeney), who were looking for a new, self-sufficient way of life for their budding family.

It’s hard to imagine a worse addition to this cast of high-minded nonconformist cranks and hard-nosed middle-class colonists than a capitalist sybarite. Enter the grandiose Baroness Eloise (de Armas), as Cleopatra leads her to the beach, escorted by her male lovers (Toby Wallace and Felix Kammerer), and ready to claim Floreana as the future site of an exclusive luxury resort called Hacienda Paradiso. Her first order of business, however, is to scowl at Ritter and Bland, the scrupulous Wittmers who, until now, had maintained a steadfast distance from each other.

The island, given the appropriately sickly, unasked-for luster of cinematographer Mathias Herndl, clearly wasn’t big enough for all these new-world experimenters. But the film’s two hours offer plenty of room for their portrayals. Howard’s generosity with his actors keeps this ensemble a charged group of colliding molecules. You wouldn’t mistake any of the turns for complete or, conversely, subtle characterization—the editing is a mess that prioritizes movement over stillness, but the broad strokes of personality are fun.

At its rawest (or is it overcooked?) when De Armas’ loaded gun vibe moves towards the camp or the law peacocks with its pomposity with a hint of desperation, the situation may remind you of some insane pre-Code potboiler, like 1932’s “The Most Dangerous Game,” when people seemed to be at their worst, which is more exciting than the Uffurling Exotot aversion. Just because this corrupting pity party isn’t so much that Peter is out there is no reason to dismiss “Eden.” A little time spent with the farcical maneuvers of the isolated megalomaniacs means you can skip the news that day.