Throughout its violent process of independence and establishment of national identity, Ireland grew tentatively separating from the colonial exploitation of the British Empire. The Catholic church contributed massively to the societal construction of the Irish; however, it led to a misogynist and oppressed culture in the earliest years. As the role of artistry, it delivered a bunch of artists who questioned the status quo and created public turmoil. One of the most unsettling individuals of that wave is the writer Edna O’Brien. Her observations of society brought the subversion of the behaviors expected of women in that era. Her confrontations with a more realistic psyche of her female characters led to public complaints in the mainstream media, such as magazines and television.
Director Sinéad O’Shea approaches the complex persona of the vital Irish author and how she paved the way for a new generation of counterintuitive writers in Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story. She combines a diary documentary with a conversational one through the talking-head artifice. In this sense, one of the most fascinating new actors, the Academy Awards nominee Jessie Buckley, narrates O’Brien’s diary writings. It is an engaging telling of her most personal thoughts and desires. As subversive as her writing, the writer would provoke her homeland with her bourgeois lifestyle, especially after her success with the scriptwriting of the adaptation of The Country Girls. Her mansion in London became famous for hosting parties with well-known artists and the British elite. Edna would live the opposite of her raising in Ireland.
The first half of Blue Road offers a fascinating look at her life and the contradictions of her choices. Edna O’Brien defies the possibilities of what society would rule women to be and do. Her progressive attitude towards her art and life reflects the dichotomies of the 1950s and 1960s. O’Brien says in her interview that she would record for the documentary when she was 93 years old in 2024 about how she loved drinking, sex, and her children. Furthermore, there is an open glimpse into her troubled marriage with Ernest Gabler, a cosmopolitan writer who would physically assault her, the reason she left. Her children with Gabler are a vital aspect of the documentary. They talk deeply about their childhood and how the divorce has influenced them. Likewise, there are long segments on how their lives as suburbians later led to their bankruptcy, ultimately resulting in the sale of the London mansion.
Structurally, the documentary frontloads discussions and noteworthy discussions to introduce her persona. Nevertheless, the approach is the back end of emotionally constructing a more mature version of the author. Her exodus to New York, where she became a literature professor, taught relevant writers like Walter Mosley. O’Shea narrates a darker time in her biography that led her to have an eleven-year publishing hiatus. The exposition of newer pieces of information engages but lacks the sense of organization and emotion provided by the narration of Jessie Buckley. In this sense, it is a blank section; it becomes a standard documentary focusing on the talking-head approach. Unfortunately, the bright facet of the first half of the film anchors on the emotional construction of the post-war era and her confrontations with society. The scandals and her feminist approach before the second wave of feminism are immensely intriguing. Ultimately, it fails to achieve the same level of emotion and engagement.
Contrary to most documentaries about artists, Blue Road is not an exercise of self-inflation of the ego. Sinéad O’Shea stays true to her artistic vision of exploring the unconventional act that Edna is. A confronting artist born in an utterly catholic country, despite her Christian visions, she would dive into partying, using drugs, and her carnal desires. The honest approach does not reject the conventions of this sub-genre within the documentary media. Documentary biographies about artists follow a pathos scheme, narrating the climbing to the cume and the tragedy that buries them down. None of the directing choices differ from the formal conventions. What she adds to distinguish her style from the others is the emotional core, which may not work entirely. But it amplifies the discussions about motherhood, sexuality, and feminality.
Edna O’Brien made her signature and influence through her brave and disruptive writing style. She has impacted many through her publishing and teaching career later in her life. Finally, she could live a fulfilled life with the pleasures that life allows and leave a legacy. Despite falling in the conventions, Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story achieves emotional heights that fascinate the audience and stimulate us to engage in her journey.
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story world premiered at DOC NY 2024.
Learn more about the film at the DOC NY site for the title.
