EDEN

SHOWN by RTÉ recently and now receiving a deserved cinema release, Edenoriginated as a two-hander play by Eugene O'Brien, which won the Irish Timesaward for best new play of 2001.

The film's theatrical roots are rarely evident in O'Brien's astute reworking of the material for his screen adaptation, expanding the cast to feature characters that were mere references on stage. And he jettisons much of the play's dialogue, allowing the language of cinema to reveal the conflicted feelings of his protagonists.

This is effective from the outset, in succinct scenes where hardly a word is spoken. It's a summer Saturday night in an unnamed midlands town as Billy (Aidan Kelly) finishes work and heads for the pub. His wife Breda (Eileen Walsh) pretends to be asleep when he finally comes home. Their bodies do not touch in the marital bed.

Ironically, given that he works for a phone company, Billy no longer communicates with his wife beyond the briefest of exchanges. It's a week before their 10th wedding anniversary, and Breda - who spends her nights alone watching TV after putting their two children to bed - yearns that the occasion may reignite some sparks in their disintegrating marriage.

Billy prefers the company of his male friends in the pub, envying them as they boast of sexual exploits, and lusting after a younger woman (Sarah Greene). Breda has a sexual fantasy of her own, and emboldened by wine, tells it to her best friend (Lesley Conroy). The personal tension between the unhappy couple mounts to the point where it becomes unbearable and in desperate need of release.

Director Declan Recks, who collaborated with Eugene O'Brien on the Pure MuleTV series, dissects this relationship with subtlety and frankness and not a hint of false sentiment. Cinematographer Owen McPolin adeptly contrasts images of freedom - in wide shots of the local landscape - to imprisonment - in tightly framed close-ups of a couple falling apart inside their home.

Edenis rooted in raw honesty and realism, and the cast responds admirably. Kelly captures Billy in all his restlessness and smouldering intensity, and Walsh is wonderfully expressive in silently conveying Breda's frustrations and desires. For a film about Irish life revolving around bars and parties, Edenis a sobering experience.