Kumu Documentary: Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story
Dir Sinéad O’Shea
Ireland and the UK 2024, 99 min
In English
The fearless Irish literary icon Edna O’Brien reflects on a storied and scandalous life.
In 1960 the young Irish woman Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, The Country Girls. She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She made her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune.
At 93, just before her death, she gave an expansive interview for this documentary, which the director Sinéad O’Shea combines with moving archival footage. The result is a rousing and fitting tribute.
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