2015
(88th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
Brooklyn is not
just set in New York and Ireland of the early 1950s, it is set in versions of
those places that only exist in nostalgic memories or what your imagination
conjures up when looking at an old photograph. The landscape of Ireland and the
cityscape of Brooklyn are rich in bold colors and pretty clothes (which get
brighter in America), but there is much more to Brooklyn than appearances.
Saoirse Ronan plays Eilis (pronounced like “A-lish”), a
young woman who moves to America, specifically to Brooklyn, from a small
village in Ireland. The move is set into motion by Eilis’s older sister, Rose,
because the opportunities for a young person, especially a woman, in their
village are rather narrow. Rose wants Eilis to have experiences that she never
had; a step that their small-minded mother would never have taken. On the ocean
voyage to New York Eilis gets seasick and in Brooklyn she gets homesick, but
slowly she finds comfort in her new life. She lives in a boarding house run by
a stern, but funny landlady (Julie Walters) who believes that giddiness is the eighth
deadly sin. A friendly priest (Jim Broadbent) helps her find a job at a
department store and enroll in night classes for bookkeeping. Easing her
homesickness most of all is Tony (Emory Cohen), a sweet Italian-American
plumber who attends the Irish dance at the parish hall because he really likes
Irish girls.
There is not a drop of cynicism in Brooklyn. It has no villain and takes no dark turns. The conflict
in Brooklyn comes when Eilis and
Tony’s romance is interrupted because she must return to Ireland after a death
in the family. Once back in the familiar surroundings of her homeland, her
dreary town seems warmer. She sees a quiet Irish beach like she never had
before. She’s offered a job as a bookkeeper, and, more significantly, finds a
kind, handsome suitor in Jim, played by Domhnall Gleeson.
Eilis’s defining moment comes when she is presented with
something far more important than the choice between two different men. She has
to choose between two different lives and where she feels home is for her.
There is no correct, obvious decision here as there often is when a movie gives
a woman a choice between two different men or places to live. Both Jim and Tony
are good, decent men that would be good, decent husbands. In Jim there is
everything positive about a familiar life in Ireland. In Tony there is a new,
different, and warm life in Brooklyn. Eilis’s arc is believable because it is understated.
There is no grand scene of an epiphany. The inner workings of her mind and
heart are shown rather than stated in Saoirse Ronan’s wonderful performance. Ronan’s
performance is not showy, but she makes us feel more by doing less. We aren’t
aware of how much she’s grown and matured until suddenly, but quietly we notice
the change.
Brooklyn is an
immigrant’s story, a love story, and most of all, a young woman’s coming of age
story. The phrase “this is a movie you can see with your parents or
grandparents” was thrown around a lot when it was first released, and it is
true. Brooklyn is as inoffensive as
it is romantic, but I hope being a well-made romance and coming of age story
won’t keep anyone away from watching this movie. You won’t find many dark
corners in this movie. It is a light drama, but drama doesn’t have to be heavy
and dark for it to affect and move a viewer. Brooklyn is a wonderful, sweet, romantic movie in which everything
is done well -- from the screenplay by Nick Hornby and direction by John Crowley, to the performances, production and costume design – and the result is
far from saccharine.
Nominees: Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
Director: John Crowley
Screenplay: Nick Hornby, based on the novel by Colm Tòibìn
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson
Production Companies: BFI, BBC Films, Wildgaze Films
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures, TSG Entertainment
Release Date: November 6, 2015
Total Nominations: 3, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Actress-Saoirse Ronan, Adapted
Screenplay-Nick Hornby
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