Tribeca Dispatch: Sunday, April 27 (Eden)

No work made for a two-movie day. This is my third consecutive double feature, and the exhaustion and mental wall I’m experiencing already remind me why I don’t want to make film my career. (Note to self: See only one movie a day for the next three days.)

The review for This Is Not a Robbery, actually the first movie I saw Sunday, will come later Monday. Right now, I need sleep.

Second movie seen: Eden
What it is (description from TFF Web site): Taking a frank look at the slow disintegration of a marriage during the week before a couple's 10th anniversary, Eden catapults an intimate story from O'Brien's award-winning play onto the big screen while only enhancing its emotional impact.
Viewing partners: Josee and Mark

Review: Featuring a mesmerizing performance from Eileen Walsh, Eden depicts an Irish couple at the edge of their 10-year union. They don’t communicate, they barely interact, Billy (Aidan Kelly) is drawn to a younger woman - can this marriage be saved?

Bleak stuff, to be sure, but Eugene O’Brien’s script, based on his play, is also highly realistic. Like many men, Billy has feelings he cannot express. He’d rather spend time with his buddies and booze, living a stunted fantasy. Wife Breda is more emotionally aware but no better at speaking of heartbreak. She sobs to her best friend, her voice catching on her pain: “I tried to … I couldn’t make him … he was soft … he didn’t …”

Eden’s production team cited In the Bedroom, the 2001 Sissy Spacek/Tom Wilkinson drama, as inspiration for the tone. Musical choices underscore the characters’ thoughts, notably during a slowed-down “House of the Rising Sun” by Sinead O’Connor. Director Declan Recks and cinematographer Owen McPolin enforce the emotions through their shooting methods: Breda’s scenes were done with a still camera, the more unsettled Billy’s with a hand-held one.

While Kelly adroitly gives voice to an internalized man, Eden ultimately is Walsh’s movie. In one lovely sequence, a sassy haircut and violet dress give Breda the confidence to confront the head of her weight-loss program; her satisfied retort and sharp swivel inspire a “you go, girl.” Minutes later, Breda watches her husband arrive in a nightclub for their anniversary date. She sees his eyes travel to Imelda (Sarah Green) rather than her. Walsh slumps, her eyes falling in familiar disappointment. The princess spell is broken.

Irish hearts and eyes won’t be smiling after Eden - they’ll be too drained - but viewers of all nationalities will applaud the craftsmanship of this personal film.