Edna O'Brien

Writing

Edna O'Brien

Born 1930-12-15 · Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland

Edna O'Brien was an Irish novelist, playwright, poet, and writer for film and television.

Acting credits

Mother Ireland poster
NR

Edna O’Brien is interviewed by Russell Harty about her writing and her relationship with Ireland, as explored in her latest non-fiction book Mother Ireland.

Mother Ireland

1976

Anjelica Huston on James Joyce: A Shout in the Street poster
NR

An account of the life and work of Irish writer James Joyce (1882-1941) narrated by US actress Anjelica Huston.

Anjelica Huston on James Joyce: A Shout in the Street

2017

Tonite Let's All Make Love in London poster
4.5

Peter Whitehead’s disjointed Swinging London documentary, subtitled “A Pop Concerto,” comprises a number of different “movements,” each depicting a different theme underscored by music: A early version of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” plays behind some arty nightclub scenes, while Chris Farlowe’s rendition of the Rolling Stones’ “Out of Time” accompanies a young woman’s description of London nightlife and the vacuousness of her own existence. In another segment, the Marquess of Kensington (Robert Wace) croons the nostalgic “Changing of the Guard” to shots of Buckingham Palace’s changing of the guard, and recording act Vashti are seen at work in the studio. Sandwiched between are clips of Mick Jagger (discussing revolution), Andrew Loog Oldham (discussing his future) – and Julie Christie, Michael Caine, Lee Marvin, and novelist Edna O’Brien (each discussing sex). The best part is footage of the riot that interrupted the Stones’ 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert.

Tonite Let's All Make Love in London

1967

The Hard Way poster
6.1

John Connor is a soon-to-retire hitman that agrees to take on one last job. After years plying his deadly trade, he has finally had enough. Seeking to retire to Dublin and maybe salvage his dying marriage, Connor wants to leave the lonely world of the marksman behind him and melt into the background. Unfortunately, his handler O'Neal is reluctant to let him go, and, after much coertion, manages to talk him into accepting one final job.

The Hard Way

1980

Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story poster
5.7

Emerging from rural Ireland, Edna O’Brien broke multiple taboos with her sexually provocative literature and equally adventurous love life. Here, she opens up about her past with additional perspectives offered by Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosely, and others.

Blue Road: The Edna O'Brien Story

2025

Wild Decembers poster
4.5

The film, based on the novel of the same title by Edna O'Brien, is a dark story about love and land set in County Clare in the West of Ireland.

Wild Decembers

2009

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

À mi-mots: Edna O'Brien

2004

Edna O'Brien: Fearful... and Fearless poster
NR

Edna O’Brien is one of the greatest literary talents and rule breakers of her generation. In 1960, her revolutionary debut novel, The Country Girls, broke down social and sexual barriers for women and was subsequently banned in her native country of Ireland. The awrd-winning O’Brien continues to produce some of the most urgent work of her unparalleled career, with her eighteenth novel, Girl, a searing story inspired by the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram, to be published later this year. In this honest and engaging documentary, Edna O’Brien reflects on her remarkable and ongoing writing life, interwoven with actors who perform extracts from her novels and rare family archive footage.

Edna O'Brien: Fearful... and Fearless

2019

Behind the camera

Love poster
4.9

A unique anthology of six short vignettes on the subject of love, all of them written, directed and produced by women.

Love

1982

Girl with Green Eyes poster
6.7

A naive young country girl moves to Dublin and finds herself drawn to a sophisticated author twice her age.

Girl with Green Eyes

1964

Zee and Co. poster
5.7

The venomous and amoral wife of a wealthy architect tries, any way she can, to break up the blossoming romance between her husband and his new mistress; a good-natured young widow who holds a dark past.

Zee and Co.

1972

No artwork available
8.0

An intense court case involving divorce proceedings is adjourned for lunch. Husband and wife then discover they are both going to be eating in the same cafeteria.

Nothing's Ever Over

1968

I Was Happy Here poster
6.4

Cass followed the bright lights to London and was quickly disillusioned. She met and married Doctor Langdon, but soon realised she wanted to return to her home by the sea, and to her first love, Colin.

I Was Happy Here

1966

The Wedding Dress poster
NR

Mr. Berry starts to sell his wife's clothes. His wife, not being dead, is alarmed and upset.

The Wedding Dress

1963

The Country Girls poster
7.0

The lifelong friendship of two rural Irish girls is put on the test when they grow up and leave for the big city, each with different life goals in mind.

The Country Girls

1983

Wild Decembers poster
4.5

The film, based on the novel of the same title by Edna O'Brien, is a dark story about love and land set in County Clare in the West of Ireland.

Wild Decembers

2009

3 Into 2 Won't Go poster
5.0

Steve Howard, a British sales executive living in Manchester, England, begins an affair with a young hitchhiker, Elle Patterson, to emotionally get away from his marriage to his wife Francis. But when Elle moves into a room in Steve and Francis's house, he must keep the true nature of his relationship with Elle under wraps at all costs.

3 Into 2 Won't Go

1969

No artwork available
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Which of These Two Ladies Is He Married To?

1967

Over poster
NR

A woman ruminates about her ex-partner. He is involved in a new relationship. She is alone.

Over

1973