Director: John Crowley
Writer: Nick Hornby, Colm Tóibín
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleason
Synopsis: An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
It has been ten years since the release of Brooklyn, so it feels like the perfect time to look back. But then, this got me thinking about exactly that, looking back. There are many films that look backwards, with rose-colored glasses, at our country’s past. And frankly, this has led our country to a precarious position. There is definitely a romanticism that makes it tempting to only look at the past as positive, especially if you are white. But, there are some stories that do not look with this simplistic view, but instead understand the importance of both the comfortableness of the past and the risky nature of the future. Brooklyn is one of those movies, and one that has received a few simplistic readings because it is so lovely (which it is).
For the uninitiated, Brooklyn follows Eilis (a note-perfect Saoirse Ronan) as a young Irish woman who has been given the opportunity to leave Ireland for the opportunities of the United States. As the film begins, director John Crowley lovingly films Ireland (along with cinematographer Yves Bélanger) which we will find out later is drastically important for the film to work as well as it does. There is a beautiful push-and-pull inherent in Eilis. She must desire to leave her country as well as feel the painful loss when she begins her new life. And, of course, that country includes her mother (Jane Brennan) and her sister, Rose (Fiona Glascott). The film also manages this by engaging in the Irish community in New York. In one particular scene, an Irish immigrant sings at a dinner, and one cannot help but feel the pull to go back home. This scene, paired with one of the most beautiful onscreen sibling relationships in cinema history, will make you truly ache for your family.
Eilis, fighting her homesickness and trying to make a life, eventually is given opportunities to learn new skills and, connected to this, ends up meeting an Italian boy, Tony (Emory Cohen). Due to the two kind and empathetic performances, we have almost no choice but to root for them. As their relationship blooms, we and Eilis both start, just for a moment, to forget Ireland. And this film could have been that simple. Just a nice love story of two immigrants and their ups and downs. But luckily, Brooklyn is so much more than that. Eilis is a woman caught between two things constantly: Two men, two countries, two lives.
When Eilis is called back to Ireland, everything changes. When she was far away in the United States, choice seemed like a mere illusion. Everything takes a long time: travel, letters, day-to-day life. But now, with her being home with her family and old friends, that intoxicating allure of home and comfort is in her face constantly. Yes, her life in America is exciting and different, but can anything really replace home?
As she meets Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson), life alters again. Although it would be easy to call this a love triangle between Eilis, Jim, and Tony, that would denigrate what is happening on screen. This is purely Eilis’ story and it is refreshing that she is not being pressured to make decisions. We get the honor of watching Ronan process loss, pain, excitement, and responsibility, sometimes all at once. It is understood now that she is one of our best working actresses, but this is pre-Lady Bird, Little Women, and The Outrun. Of course, anyone seeing her as a child actor knew she had talent, but Brooklyn is the moment that she removed all doubt that she would make the transition as an adult. Crowley constantly lets the camera linger, both on the Irish countryside and on Ronan’s face. The slow zoom outs from her eyes tell us more than words ever could.
Eilis, of course, makes her choices, but they are, in terms of Hollywood style, lacking in high amounts of drama. We understand why she makes the choices that she does, and it feels like there really were no options. Things end as they are supposed to and Eilis becomes the woman that she was always meant to be. Brooklyn is not simply a lovely story (though it is that). It is an exploration of growth, love, connection, and some of the things that actually make the world great. Not wild success, riches, or intense passion. Instead, we see a woman finding love, improving herself, and looking out for people who need it. In short, Brooklyn is one of the very best films of the past decade and worth looking back on.
Grade: A