NEED TO KNOW
Eden Undone: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II, which comes out in paperback Aug. 5, spins the real-life tale of the “little-known, macabre history of the Galapagos” told through the eyes of its “exiles.” Weeks later, Ron Howard’s on-screen adaptation of the drama, simply titled Eden, will premiere in the United States on Aug. 22.
Penguin Random House
“The three sets of exiles — a Berlin doctor and his lover, a traumatized World War I veteran and his young family and an Austrian baroness with two adoring paramours — were riven by conflict,” a synopsis reads. “The conclusion was deadly: with two exiles missing and two others dead, the survivors hurled accusations of murder.”
Historian Abbott Kahler wrote the book and served as historical consultant during the production of the film. Ahead of the release of both the paperback book and movie, take a look at the film actors side-by-side with the people who served as real-life inspiration for the tale.
Jude Law as Friedrich Ritter
George Allan Hancock Collection at USC; BACKGRID
Jude Law’s character, Friedrich Ritter, was an “egotistical doctor and would-be philosopher” from Berlin, said Kahler, and sought out Floreana in the Galapagos Islands to craft his perfect utopia.
Committed to island life long-term, Ritter had his teeth removed and replaced with steel dentures, Kahler said. And though he considered himself quite self-sufficient, he often battled other settlers on the island for resources from American millionaires.
Vanessa Kirby as Dore Strauch
George Allan Hancock Collection at USC; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Vanessa Kirby’s character, Dore Strauch, was Ritter’s lover and joined him in his journey on the island. The pair met back in Berlin, where Ritter treated Strauch for multiple sclerosis, Kahler said.
Early on, Strauch saw Ritter as “terrifying,” Kahler explained, but as time passed, she found the bravery to rebel against her partner’s cruelty — “first in small ways, and then in ways that changed the course of their lives.”
Daniel Brühl as Heinz Wittmer
George Allan Hancock Collection at USC; Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty
Heinz Wittmer, played by Daniel Brühl, moved to Floreana with his lover Margret and his “sickly” teenage son, leaving his wife back in Berlin. He had PTSD from the first world war.
Though he and Ritter didn’t get along, the two men eventually teamed up against the Baroness, who “threatened their livelihoods and their lives,” Kahler said.
Sydney Sweeny as Margret Walbroel
George Allan Hancock Collection at USC; Denise Truscello/Getty
Sydney Sweeney’s character, the “pragmatic and stoic” Margret Walbroel, joined Wittmer on his trip to Floreana and eventually married him there. Walbroel had a habit of collecting everyone’s secrets and eventually developed a rift with Strauch.
She was the first person to give birth on the island, which Kahler noted was one of the film’s “most harrowing scenes.”
Ana de Armas as Antonia Henrika Jole Wagner-Wehrborn, “The Baroness”
George Allan Hancock Collection at USC; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Ana de Armas plays “The Baroness,” an aristocrat who left her husband back in Paris to journey to Floreana. She made the trip with her “two young boyfriends by her side and a pistol at her hip,” Kahler said.
Many of the settlers saw Floreana’s future as a peaceful utopia, but The Baroness wanted it to be a bustling destination for American tourists.
“She both threatened and seduced visitors (earning the nickname “Crazy Panties”) and seemed capable of anything — even murder,” Kahler wrote.
