zorro, they made the correction:
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Saoirse Ronan
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 04, 2015 09:14 AM)
zorro, they made the correction:
A previous version of this post said Fox Searchlight was adding 795 theaters for Brooklyn, when in fact it's only adding 61. The article and predictions have been updated accordingly. The Krampus prediction has also been expanded on with added detail.
They are predicting a little under 2.8 million which makes sense because despite the theater count increasing slightly, the PTA will go down a bit. This confirms my suspicion that Fox Searchlight will use the Oscar and other awards noms as a launching point and expand the film's theater count to its greatest extent. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 08, 2015 05:01 AM)
Here is an excerpt from a blogger by the name of Kate Ponders. The review is quite long but very well written and quite funny. Check the whole thing out.
I loved everything about this film. It is sweet and sticky, without inducing toothache; romantic, exquisitely performed throughout, and perfectly under-scripted. The cinematography is utterly delectable, making me truly believe that the 1950s is the most desirable time in all of history. It is such a rare treat and privilege to see Saoirse Ronan the little girl from Atonement who grew up so that everyone feels ancient
blossom into a sublime and subtle actress with even more greatness ahead. She is dazzling.
http://tinyurl.com/nlxs2k7 -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 08, 2015 05:11 AM)
Reese Witherspoon is a big fan of Saoirse's work in Brooklyn.
reesewitherspoon#MondayMuse: #SaiorseRonan of the film #Brooklyn. (#NickHornby wrote Brooklyn's script & #YvesBelanger was the director of photography.)
Saiorse's performance is mesmerizing!
It's in theaters now; I highly recommend you go see it.
http://tinyurl.com/p2t6md4 -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 11, 2015 04:27 PM)
From WTOP (Washington DC)
By Jason Fraley | @JFrayWTOP
December 11, 2015 2:23 am
WASHINGTON The Golden Globe nominees were just announced on Thursday. So were helping you prioritize with reviews of three of the nominees: Brooklyn, The Danish Girl and Room.
While all three are nominated for Globes, none of them has an American studio as its primary production company. Brooklyn is a joint production from Ireland, the UK and Canada, The Danish Girl is a British, German and American collaboration and Room hails from Ireland and Canada, but all three feature universal themes this award season, particularly immigration, identity and survival.
Immigration Brooklyn
During a time of heated debate over the merits vs. dangers of immigration in 2015 America, along comes a little movie reminding us of Americas promise as a land of hope, refuge and opportunity for dreamers beyond our shores. Among so many other admirable qualities, Brooklyn is a classic love note to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and the inspirational narrative of the American immigrant.
Fittingly, the films heroine is named Eilis, the sort of name youd get if you combined the phonics of Irish and Ellis. Semantic intentions aside, Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is a strong yet soft-spoken Irish immigrant who lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she lands a retail job in a department store (under boss Jessica Par of Mad Men) and finds love in a blue-collar Italian boyfriend (Emory Coehn), who loves the Brooklyn Dodgers. But when her past (Domhnal Gleeson) comes knocking, she must choose between the two countries she loves, weighing her heart against her dreams, family and lifestyle.
Adapted by Nick Hornby from his own novel written under the alias Colm Tibn Brooklyn is good old-fashioned storytelling in the absolute best sense of the word. Part of this is due to the careful, patient pacing of director John Crowley (Intermission), who pays close attention to lifes more intimate details even through the most life-changing moments, before bringing us full circle.
Perhaps a bigger reason for the classic feel is Ronans performance, carrying herself with the yesteryear grace of Hollywoods Golden Age. Her superstar storm has been brewing since her Oscar nomination in Atonement (2007) and her BAFTA nomination in The Lovely Bones (2009). Now, Brooklyn should be the one to truly put her on the map as her closest shot at winning Best Actress.
Like Agata Trzebuchowska in the Polish gem Ida (2014), Ronan invites our undying sympathies with a quiet presence we just cant take our eyes off. When she waves to her family from a ships balcony, we feel the anxiety of embarking into the unknown. When she flirts with budding romance, we blush along with her cheeks. And when she breaks down in homesick tears, we cry along with her.
I wish that I could stop feeling like I want to be an Irish girl in Ireland, she tells her doctor.
Home sickness is like any other sickness. It will pass, he replies.
After watching Brooklyn, youll have a similar feeling in your gut a bittersweet longing to return home to this beautiful little movie for another viewing and nothing but gratitude for the experience.
4-stars -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 11, 2015 04:44 PM)
Saoirse Ronan shines in Brooklyn with her commanding performance By: Alison Gillmor
Posted: 12/10/2015 12:25 PM (Winnipeg Free Press)
A young Irish girl, Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), immigrates to New York, missing the familiar old world and uncertain about the possibilities of the new. She is also torn between two men, one in each country.
Brooklyn might sound like a classic immigrant tale, or an old-fashioned romance, or a bit of both. On the surface, the set-up seems1c84 simple, even conventional. But a subtler story runs underneath the surface, through muffled, muted emotions and slow discoveries.
Scripted by Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) and directed by John Crowley (Closed Circuit), this adaptation doesnt quite match the complexity of Colm Tibns 2009 novel, which describes characters whose feelings are so deeply buried they are unable to express them to others, or even to themselves. Thats a hard thing to convey on the page, and even harder to put across on screen.
But the production is blessed with the astonishing talents of Ronan, who earned an Oscar nomination at age 13 for her role in Atonement and has earned a Golden Globe nomination for Brooklyn.
In the hands of a lesser talent, the pivotal role of Eilis might have read as just another passive, pretty ingnue. With sure but small gestures, Ronan manages to suggest both luminous innocence and reserves of strength that Eilis is only beginning to understand. Its a quietly commanding performance.
At the start of the story, which is set in the early 1950s, Eilis lives with her widowed mother and her sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott), in Enniscorthy, a pinched and narrow southern Irish town. There are few prospects for work or for marriage, many of the young men having left for jobs in London or Liverpool.
The enterprising Rose, with the help of a priest (Jim Broadbent) who now lives in America, makes plans to send Eilis to New York.
"How do you feel about that?" an acquaintance later asks her. Not only does Eilis not know, shes never allowed herself to ask that question. People in Enniscorthy arent given to wondering how they feel.
Eiliss new life in Brooklyn has been arranged by others. She works at a department store and lives at a boarding house run by the hilariously imperious Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Walters), but she is desperately homesick.
Then she meets Tony (Emory Cohen), a sweet-natured, wide-open Italian-American plumber. Just as Eiliss longing for Ireland starts to subside and she sees that it can be "nice to talk to people who dont know your auntie," a family tragedy calls her back.
She falls into the comfort of familiar faces and begins a friendship with Jim (Domhnall Gleeson), a young man from a "good family."
But Eilis has been changed by her American experience, and she finds that Enniscorthy is not quite home either.
"I dont know if I have a home," she says at one point. The story pivots on Eiliss realization that she must figure out how and where to make her own life.
Hornbys sensitive script is not afraid of silences, and Crowley observes his actors with tender, unforced intimacy. The production takes care with period details without fussing over them unduly.
If theres a problem with Brooklyn, its that the absolute loveliness of the romantic scenes occasionally overwhelms the emotional ambiguities seen in Tibns novel.
That seems like a minor issue in a film so genuine and so moving.
http://tinyurl.com/jzpv5fk -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 12, 2015 07:07 PM)
Mindy KalingVerified account @mindykaling 9h9 hours ago
#BrooklynMovie is fantastic. Saoirse Ronan is legit luminous, a word I swore I would never use in my lifetime. Also Nick Hornby script
Neil Mathieson @4Real_Deal_Neil 11h11 hours ago
"Brooklyn" is impeccably lovely, a top to bottom revelation. Saoirse Ronan's indelible face will forever be a cinematic landmark.
Guy Lodge @GuyLodge 14h14 hours ago
TV presenters, we're well past the point where you can make cute jokes about not knowing how to pronounce Saoirse Ronan's name. Look it up. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 13, 2015 08:32 AM)
DECEMBER 10, 2015
Directed by John Crowley | Written by Nick Hornby, adapting a Colm Toibin novel | 111 min |
Saoirse Ronan is on point as Ellis, the young woman who in John Crowleys 1950s-set diasporic drama travels from rural Ireland to Brooklyn, New York for a new life, and inevitably, first love. This is an unabashedly romantic yarn, one that trades in a currency of weepy looks, swelling strings, and straight-ahead storytelling.
But its also patently earnest, thoughtful, and moving. It avoids any danger of the maudlin by Hornbys sharp script, spliced with a subtle but consistent humor, and Ronans typically A-Grade chops.
Its Ellis sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott), who encourages her to go west, leaving her and their mother. With the sponsorship help of a friendly Irish priest (Jim Broa2000dbent),Ellis survives a traumatic Atlantic sea crossing in a windowless cabin. Taking work at a New York upscale department store (managed by Jessica Parthe Irish/UK/Canada co-pro means Montreal locations and actors), she lives in a boarding house for women on Clinton Street run by Julie Walters. And thats where many of the films best moments take place, whether the chucklesome asides at the dining room table with the various tenants, or in a moment of truth between two in an upstairs bathroom.
Thats what Brooklyn really has going for it: moments of perfectly modulated tone. Whether its Ellis homesickness, her growing joy and appreciation of the trees in spring wrapping the Brooklyn brownstones in green, or the utterly charming chemistry between her and her Italian beau, Tony (Emory Cohen).
When tragedy forces Ellis to return to Ireland, its a little confusing as to why she doesnt reveal to her friends and family that she has a love back in New York, but if thats a slight plot issue, it doesnt spoil the aching sweetness of what happens when she starts to receive the attentions of a hometown fella, Domhnhall Gleesons Jim.
Dont get me wrong, much of the emotional terrain Brooklyn delivers is the usual purview of British TV period dramas, but even amongst those this would stand out for its sterling lyricism.
And theres simply no way Ronan will be ignored at awards time. People are calling her the best actor of her generation, and that work is all here to see.
Brooklyn opens in Halifax on Friday, December 11, 2015
http://tinyurl.com/ozyfc4r
Carsten Knox is a massive, cheese-eating nerd. In the day he works as a journalist in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At night he stares out at the rain-slick streets, watches movies, and writes about what he's seeing. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 13, 2015 05:16 PM)
I literally just settled in and read this before checking your post. This is the newspaper and website produced by the students from the University of York.
I like this part as well:
But, Saoirse is essential to everything here. John Crowleys direction knows this, the costume and make up work knows this, and critically so does Blanger. For all that film can do, there is still an inarguable excellence to the power of a human face well acted on screen. Saoirse is one such face. What a gift to Ireland, what a gift to the world that this 21 year old actor has matured so eloquently on screen. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 03, 2015 06:04 PM)
The Nick Hornby-written Brooklyn is quite possibly the best film of 2015
ReviewsFilm Reviewsby James Shotwell - Dec 3, 2015
Brooklyn
Finding a way to transcend the idea of how movies are supposed to look and feel in 2015, Brooklyn offers a timeless tale of love and the many forms it takes that will not soon be forgotten. The script is strong, as is the source material it has been adapted from, and the lead performances from Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen could not be more perfectly measured. In a time when it seems every film needs a villain of some kind, Brooklyn has arrived to remind us the greatest journeys are often the most personal ones.
Set in the 1950s, Brooklyn follows an Irish immigrant named Eilis Lacey (Ronan) as she begins a new life thousands of miles from the one she has always known. Her trip is the result of an arrangement by her sister (Fiona Glascott), who remained behind in Irel1908and to watch over their widowed mother, and it comes just as Eilis is beginning to feel as if there was no place for her at home. She soon finds work, as well as a place to live, and after a brief bout with homesickness she begins to enjoy her new surroundings.
One night, while escorting a newly immigrated girl to a weekly dance for Irish youth, Eilis meets a young man named Tony (Cohen). The spark between them is almost immediate, and by the time they are walking home together Tony feels it only right to confess that he is, in fact, not Irish. Hes actually Italian, and while he could spend his night at a similar dance for Italian youth he chooses to attend the dance where he met Eilis because he has a thing for Irish girls. This isnt to say hes a ladies man, or that anything about him would lead you to believe he had ever successfully swooned a girl of any kind, but he feels so strongly for Eilis from the moment they meet he knows its only right she knows what lead to their initial encounter. Ellis admires this kind of honesty, especially from someone who has no real reason to confess anything to someone else they just met, and soon the two begin to date.
Just as life in America is beginning to flow the way Eilis had always been told it would, devastating news from home brings back the homesickness Eilis has only recently felt fade away. The pain and distance are all too much for her to bear, so Eilis makes a decision to return home in order to be with her family. Tony understands her decision, but he fears the time apart will cause her to believe that her time in New York was a mistake, so he makes the rash decision to ask for Eilis hand in marriage in the days before her departure. She accepts, they marry, and then shes gone.
Back in Ireland, Eilis begins to fall for a boy she never even thought about twice before her trip to America. She also finds temporary employment in the field of her dreams, as well as time with her dear mother whom she has greatly missed. Its all so wonderful and peaceful that Eilis begins to wonder why she ever left, and in time she begins to wonder if she should ever leave again.
Aside from a few minor changes made to simplify the story and provide a more satisfying conclusion, Brooklyn is about as close to being a perfect adaptation as any reader could hope to find in film. Writer Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy) has brought Colm Tibns work to the big screen just as it appeared on the page, only now its beautifully realized with lush colors and gorgeous costumes. There is heart, romance, comedy and drama to spare, but never too much of anything at any given moment. Filmmaker John Crowley knows how to give viewers just enough to leave them wanting more, and with a near-perfect cast at his disposal the material simply leaps to life.
If Saoirse Ronan doesnt enter 2016 with a number of Best Actress nominations for her work as Eilis there is no justice in film today.
Playing a character like Eilis demands a level of skill and subtle precision that is incredibly rare in film today.
She is a woman of few words and many dreams, with ambitions far greater than anyone meeting her would likely assume. At the same time however, she carries guilt from being in a position like no one else in her family has ever experienced. She knows her family only wants for her to be happy, but she fears that allowing herself to feel joy will somehow cause her loved ones to suffer. Ronan understands all of this and conveys it with poise and grace that feels pulled from golden age of cinema.
Emory Cohen, having already established himself as a major-level talent in the minor leagues of indie film, compliments Ronans subtle performance with his tough, yet charming portrayal of Tony. His character is the middle child of a working-class Italian family who is constantly trying to prove to the world and himself that he is a man, all while trying to swoon a girl that he knows it out of his league. His intentions are good, as are his actions, and I find it hard to imagine anyone being able to resist falling in -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 15, 2015 03:58 PM)
BROOKLYN IS A SWOONING AND POIGNANT EXPLORATION OF HOME
POSTED BY SCHYLER MARTIN ON DEC 15, 2015 |
Overview: When a tragedy forces a young Irish immigrant back to her country of origin, she must decide whether to stay in the life she once had there or go back to her newfound life in America. Fox Searchlight Pictures; 2015; Rated PG-13; 112 minutes.
A Rich Atmosphere:
They say you cant go home again, but thats not quite true, is it? You can go home, even after years away. And often you do, and you stay for a bit, and you start to forget all of the reasons you left. Ive left home many times, and while its safe to say that Ill probably never live in the town I grew up in again, but Ill still go back from time to time. And every time I know Ill feel a small, mostly inexplicable tug in my heart pulling me to stay.
That pull of home coupled with the ringing call of a new life is central to Brooklyn. These feelings are deep, hard to explain, and surely tough to represent accurately on screen, but Brooklyn doesnt miss a beat. Director John Crowley and cinematographer Yves Blanger have crafted brilliant, sensory atmospheres in which one can easily lose oneself in this film.
Flawless acting enhances the world the film builds.
Saoirse Ronan is better than great. She is a breakthrough, star-on-the-rise, unbelievably talented and watchable actress.
Emory Cohen is one of the more charming love interests Ive seen on screen in a long time. And those who know me already know how I feel about Domhnall Gleeson. (Swoon.) Hes consistently grand.
Coming of Age:
Brooklyn has largely been marketed as a love story, complete with a requisite triangle. Love does abound in the film, but its about so much more than that. Brooklyn is an exploration of self, of choices we all make and struggle with. Its a coming of age story that emotionally fulfills ten-fold. But its not just that Brooklyn is emotionally fulfilling that makes it so great. Its that its real.
The film never falls back on tired sentimentality. Changes and emotional breakthroughs arent monumental and sudden as they so often seem to be in movies. Insteab68d, theyre quiet and thoughtful expressed through a bright yellow dress and an air of confidence, or a little extra swing in the phenomenally talented Ronans step.
Final Thoughts: For anyone whos ever left home or whos ever missed it. Anyone whos ever known that they could go back again, and live in the same town, with most of the same people, but still realize that life couldnt ever really be the same as it once was. Brooklyn is the movie for you. What a treasure it is to see a poignant and universal dilemma portrayed in such a beautiful way.
Grade: A
(From: Audiences Everywhere)
http://tinyurl.com/oqb54eh -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 20, 2015 01:05 AM)
The Express Tribune
Sunday, 20 Dec 2015
Fib68lm review: Brooklyn - The home front
By Ally Adnan Published: December 20, 2015
The life of an immigrant is strange. The country that he leaves behind holds his history whereas his future belongs to the new one. It takes a very long time sometimes decades to decide which country to call home. It is, invariably, a critical event, powerful but rarely dramatic, and almost always triggered by love that forces the immigrant to decide where he belongs.
The moment takes place in the life of the heroine of Brooklyn towards the end of the film, when she is forced to choose between her past and her future. This is a remarkable scene powerful, potent and resonant in a remarkable film. An austere and unadorned adaptation of Colm Tibns 2009 novel, Brooklyn is one of the finest films of the year.
Brooklyn owes its greatness, almost entirely, to the masterful work of five individuals: actor Saoirse Ronan who brings her character alive with a luminous performance; director John Crowley who directs with great skill and precision; writer Nick Hornby who captures the emotional essence of the novel with a trimmed but faithful adaptation; production designer Franois Sguin who creates a sense of time and period with seemingly effortless accuracy; and casting director Fiona Weir who assembles a perfect ensemble of actors. Romantic, intelligent and engaging, it is a film that explores the sadness and happiness, the sentimentalism and pragmatism and the truth and falsehoods of a life torn between two countries. And, while it has its sad moments, Brooklyn is sublimely inspiring and heartwarming.
Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), an Irish girl in her early 20s, lives with her mother, Mary Lacey (Jane Brennan), and sister, Rose Lacey (Fiona Glascott), in the town of Enniscorthy, Ireland, circa 1951. She works a couple of days a week for local grocer Miss Kelly (Brid Brennan), a woman full of spite. Eilis prospects of finding employment, love and education at home are gloomy. Rose arranges for Eilis to migrate to America. A kind priest, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), arranges boarding-house accommodation, a job as a salesgirl at the swanky Bartoccis department store and evening classes in a local college for Eilis in the titular town of Brooklyn.
Here, Eilis is surrounded by a number of well-meaning, if quirky, characters: landlady Madge Kehoe (Julie Walters), a strict disciplinarian with a caustic tongue; a few catty housemates, alternately helpful and envious; and supervisor, Miss Fortini (Jessica Par), exacting but kind and compassionate. Eilis is homesick and lonely in America. Life changes, when she meets Antonio Fiorello (Emory Cohen), a winsome Italian plumber, at a church dance. The two fall in love over the course of just a few meetings. With Antonio by her side, life takes a decidedly positive turn for Eb68ilis. The two marry each other before Ellis embarks on a trip back to Ireland. Once back in Enniscorthy, she attracts the attention of the eligible Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson) and discovers that she is now able to take care of her aging mother and hold a good job in Enniscorthy. Confounded by the affections of two men, and her love for two countries, Eilis is soon forced to decide between a life in Ireland and one in America.
Saoirse Ronans performance low-key, understated and precise is powerful and moving. She makes her transformation from a demure young girl to a confident young lady. When confronted with love, she depicts feelings of amazement, confusion and uncertainty with the skills of a master thespian. She employs the minutest touches a wrinkle on the forehead, a twitching of the lips, a stiffening of the face to convey the most profound of emotions. Changes in gait, posture, diction and style are used to show changes that take place in her person during the course of the film. No words are used to communicate the emotional turmoil she experiences; only expressions.
Subtlety is, perhaps, the greatest strength of Brooklyn. It demonstrates how restraint, discipline and delicacy can be used effectively to tell deeply moving and passionate tales. Often, less is more. In the case of Brooklyn, it is a whole lot more!
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, December 20th, 2015. (4.5 Stars)
http://tinyurl.com/hb7t3ld -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 08:51 AM)
That is a terrific compliment PMG.
From Indiewire:
"Brooklyn" (Fox Searchlight) Week 7
$1,200,000 in 614 theaters (-333); Cumulative: $16,518,000
This Irish emigre tale is quietly itself amassing a decent 5b4result. And this weekend, though being in somewhat fewer theaters helped its cause, Searchlight can be happy that its PTA actually came in ahead of "Spotlight." That is critical in helping them fight to maintain as many of the best grossing theaters ahead over the next two weeks. -
SilverSurfer99 — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 03:19 PM)
After reading about fewer theaters showing Brooklyn, I checked my local major theater and was surprised to see them no longer showing it. Brooklyn only had a three-week run. Fortunately, my local independent theater is still showing it, as I planned to watch it again during the holiday time. But the major theater has a better viewing experience. With Fox Searchlight taking a strategic approach with this movie, do you expect the theater count to bounce back soon after Oscar nominations are announced (knock16d0-on-wood) as part of their overall plan?
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Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 04:12 PM)
Exactly. In my area, the film is running through Thursday but is not listed Friday as new titles make their debuts. It had over a one month run, but I guess the strategy is to lay low for a while until the Oscar nominations and then begin expansion once again. I'm going to try and contact the man who writes these pieces for Indiewire in an attempt to get more specifies with regard to the strategy for Brooklyn.
I need to be more patient but occasionally get irritated because I watch boatloads of commercials for these films being released this week and beyond but have seen only one Brooklyn T.V. spot since its general release. I just have to accept where we are from a movie culture standpoint: there are generally smaller or modest audiences for so many excellent films, yet titles are released every year that accumulate hundreds of millions but are the equivalent of junk food for the filmgoing masses. It's just the way things are at this point in time. Why do millions of younger women flock to stuff like Twilight or the mediocre Divergent but refuse to turn out for a sterling film like Brooklyn. Go figure. -
SilverSurfer99 — 10 years ago(December 21, 2015 06:49 PM)
Thanks for the feedback Scast. So then a wider release would be one more thing we can look forward to with the January/February timeframe. Brooklyn has already made 16.5 million domestic and from the sounds of it, a good deal in Ireland and the UK. It'll be fun to see how well Brooklyn can do when Fox Searchlight really puts the pedal to the metal.
I know how you feel about movies these days. To think Finola Dwyer and crew had a tough time (if I remember correctly) getting funding 5b4together for Brooklyn, requiring the combined funding of the Irish Film Board, the BAI, RT, BBC, Telefilm and the BFI. And even then it still had a tight budget. Yet, every year it seems there's at least one lame movie getting green-lit for a 100+ million-dollar budget. All we can do is be glad and appreciate when movies like Brooklyn get made. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(December 22, 2015 02:33 AM)
This review is written with such passion for the film that I just had to post it here. There is an observation by the reviewer of a surprising nature, and if you read the piece in it entirety,
I'd like to know if any posters here agree with his view about the presence of Tony earlier than I can recall even after multiple viewings.
Film International
Thinking Film Since 1973
Saturday, December 12th, 2015 | Posted by Matthew Sorrento
Simple, Beautiful Perfection in Brooklyn
By Elias Savada.
Its interesting that novelist-screenwriter-producer Nick Hornby and director John Crowley previously have been best known in the world of cinema for their boyish works. Hornby wrote the charming novel About a Boy (1998), which became an award-winning comedy film in 2002 that introduced us to rising star Nicholas Hoult. Five years later Crowley won accolades for his film Boy A, a hard-edged working class drama about the rehabilitation and retribution of an ex-con (played by a charismatic Andrew Garfield). Now their resumes are topped by Brooklyn, a poignant coming of age tale about an Irish lassie who finds romance in the New World.
In their new, wondrous collaboration, the graceful passion of love, the awkward innocence of a young immigrant, and a peaceful, subtle comic wit are sculpted by screenwriter Hornbys adaptation of Irish author Colm Tibns 2009 best-selling novel of the same name. Crowley builds on this substantial blueprint, orchestrating a glorious early 1950s production and wardrobe design (handled by Franois Sguin and Odile Dicks-Mireaux), weaving in a lilting score by Michael Brook to overlay the poetic images captured by cinematographer Yves Blanger, and guiding a marvelous cast
top-lined by an incandescent performance by Saoirse Ronan
and dazzling, authentic supporting turns by Downhill Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, and a breakthrough acting experience from Emory Cohen (TVs Smash, 2012-13).
A radiantly pale blue-eyed Eilis Lacey (Ronan) has realized that life in backwater Enniscorthy, Ireland, leaves little opportunity for finding the right place in her life. Shes not content with the male gene pool or her job opportunities there; its her older, single sister Rose (Fiona Glascott), an accountant, who is the principal breadwinner for the family, which also consists of their lonely mother Mary (a finely reserved Jane Brennan). Despite the close bonds the red-haired women share, it is decided that the emotionally suffocating Eilis has a better chance of success (in love, in occupation, in life) in New York City.
With the help of an migr priest, Father Flood (Broadbent, fine, as always), the demure yet resourceful fish-out-of-water has already landed a job before stepping off the boat, as well as standard issue accommodations at a Brooklyn boarding-house ruled by the Mrs. Kehoe (the confidently comic Julie Walters) and populated by some other well-opinionated and quite giddy ladies in their well-appointed bodies. Their evening meals together are funny ramblings about hunting down Mr. Right and what best to wear while swimming on the beach at Coney Island.
The scripts subtle humor first beckons our unsure heroine as she makes her maiden voyage to America. She gets a sassy, take-life-by-the horns roommate (Eva Birthistle) who helps Eilis through a rough night dealing with a disagreement between her stomach and the ships singularly disgusting mutton stew. Theres also two mean-spirited girls in an adjoining cabin with a bathroom between them who need to be reprimanded. Later in the film, look for a fine round of laughter while watching Eilis enjoy a plate a spaghetti (and the preparations involved) with a rambunctious family of immigrants.
The films visual styling showcases a muted, pre-WWII blue, beige, and brown palate in Ireland before morphing (with a blinding white light as Eilis exits the immigration center in slo-mo revelation) into brighter, newer color scheme and a more fashionable appetite as the film enters its bustling New York segment. (The film is a UK/Canada/Ireland co-production, with much of the Big Apple locations shot in Montreal.)
The glamorous department store, Bartoccis (not unlike the store where Todd Haynes Carol, another Oscar contender this year, has its start, also set in 1952), where Eilis is a clerk, is a merry cauldron where she slowly gains social confidence and overcomes a moderate case of homesickness, helped by her refined boss (Mad Mens Jessica Par) and the ever benevolent Father Flood.
But her evolution into modern womanhood begins at Bermans, a corner diner, where, unknown to her (and the viewer), Tony Fiorello (Cohen) sits nearby.
This young, well-mannered Italian plumber falls head-over-heels (who wouldnt) for her, courts her at an Irish dance hall, and even makes a grueling (to him) decision not to jinx things by bringing up any conversation about the national pastime. Of his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers (they were mine, too, back in the day). Dont want to chance a wil