In 1960, a young Irish woman named 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 would make her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties, and made and lost a fortune.
In July 2024, Edna passed away and this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s camera. Granting the director access to her personal journals — read aloud in the film by the Oscar® nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley and with additional perspectives offered from Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers — Edna does not shy from any subject.
Blue Road is as candid, dark, and enchanting as O’Brien’s wonderful novels.
Sinéad O’Shea | Ireland | 2024 | 99 mins | Cert TBC
