NEW SG Interview: Mena Suvari – Hemingway’s Garden of Eden0

by Nicole Powers

It was very possible to lose one’s mind…playing Catherine,” says Mena Suvari, referring to her role in the film Hemingway’s Garden of Eden, which opens in select US theaters this month. Indeed the character at the heart of the Ernest Hemingway book, upon which the movie is based, is considered to be one of the writer’s most complex.

The novel itself has a complicated and intriguing background too. Published posthumously in 1986, Hemingway – a contemporary of F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein – started writing The Garden of Eden in 1946. He toiled on it for over a decade, but never completed the semi-autobiographical work. Given the nature of the text, and Hemingway’s death (by suicide following years of mental illness in 1961), there’s much speculation as to whether he would have even wanted it published.

Set in post-World War I Europe, Hemingway’s daring story follows the increasingly unconventional relationship between David Bourne, an American novelist (played by Jack Huston), and, Catherine, an heiress whom he meets in Paris. After a whirlwind courtship, the two marry and embark on an extended honeymoon in the South of France.

The bliss of their early romance begins to unravel when David’s mind returns to his writing. Bored and restless, Catherine begins to explore the boundaries of her husband’s love and her own gender and sexuality. Cropping her hair in various stages, she flexes her financial and erotic dominance over her husband. When that fails to satisfy her unarticulated needs, she brings a third party into the relationship, Marita, a sultry Italian (played by Casino Royale’s Caterina Murino). Noting that her husband is easy to corrupt, Catherine both enjoys and resents his compliance. “How can you lose with two girls,” she asks at the outset of their ménage à trios. As paradise is lost, she ultimately finds out.

SuicideGirls spoke with Suvari (who is perhaps best know for her roles in the films American Beauty and American Pie) at length by phone about her character, the film, the fascinating tale of the original text, and how Hemingway’s novel has affected her personally. (Reader beware: there are spoilers ahead.)

Read our exclusive interview with Mena Suvari on SuicideGirls.com/.