Move over Lena Dunham, we like this pre-hipster portrayal of Brooklyn much better, thank you very much. “Brooklyn” is the romance I have been waiting to see for years. I absolutely wept through it. You know, I usually, of course don’t. But I was not the only one, that’s for sure. An older gentleman in his 60s to my left and a Millenial college girl on my right were wiping away tears as well. There was not a dry eye at the Centre for the Arts that afternoon.
Irish director Jim Crowley together with novelist Nick Hornby have created an impactful masterpiece. Little Saoirse Ronan is all grown up and wise beyond her years here. She is the focal point of every scene and emotes 20 yards out of the screen to aim straight for your tear ducts. Ronan plays Eilis, a young Irish girl, who bravely crosses the Atlantic to start a new life in New York. The portrayal of her homesickness is heart-wrenching. She lives in a Brooklyn boarding house with other young, working girls. These roommates are a light bunch and the interactions between them and the landlady are some of the funniest you will see at the festival. Eilis works retail at a Macy’s-like store and studies to be a bookkeeper at night. Her story reminded me a lot of Frank McCourt’s autobiographical writings and was probably the story of millions of immigrants of the time. Eilis meets Tony, a Dodgers-loving Italian plumber, who has a shy smile that will melt your heart. He has all the charms of a young Marlon Brando. The scenes where Eilis falls in love with Tony, at the speed of molasses running mind you, are romantic and genuine in the freshest possible ways. It is hard to create romance on screen when it has already been done to death for over a century now, but Hornby and Crowley miraculously find a winning way.
What happens when Eilis goes home to Ireland and meets Jim, the Irishman with whom her life can be the way it was before she left? You will have to watch the film to find out. Hornby is a great explorer of relationships. He always seems to be looking for what makes specific relationships more meaningful than others, see “High Fidelity” and “About A Boy”. Here too Hornby examines everlasting connections that thwart regular rules and customs. There is also a heavy focus on displacement due to immigration and on the loss and transformation of home. Issues of identity that come with immigration are addressed so subtly that we feel every inch of Eilis’ painful struggle under our skin. “Brooklyn” covers all the emotions that come with leaving home to find a better life. The correspondence between Eilis and her family is heartbreaking as are Eilis’ last few days with Tony before she leaves for home. The crippling power of geographical separation is beautifully represented without being cloyingly sentimental.
Ronan’s outfits are 50s glam. She is surrounded by vivid shades of green in the streets of New York that mirror her homesickness and reinforce her Irish identity. Back in Ireland she wears bright colours like lemon yellow and sky blue, to evoke the fairer weather and opportunities of America. I fell in love with all of Eilis’ ladylike 50s outfits. They are great officewear inspiration. The camerawork is spectacular and thankfully so because so many of Eilis’ emotions are birthed from her surroundings. The camera shows both the unruly beauty of Ireland and the freedom and sophistication of New York. The recreation of the 1950s is flawless.
It goes without saying that Saoirse Ronan takes the film from great to ah-mazing. She looks and speaks the part perfectly. Her emotions are never over the top but she still manages to communicate effectively. Emory Cohen as Tony is just the sweetest. He is the personification of a time that was pure and simple and good and shy. His is a Mr.Darcy worthy male character. Dohmnall Gleeson as Eilis’ Irish suitor gets less screen time but creates just as much weight in the latter half of the movie as the more suitable choice. The trio is a good-looking, well-spoken and good-meaning one. There probably will be viewers who quite rightly might think the film too sappy and emotional. To those viewers I would say that I crave those primal emotions of madness and sorrow. As we become more and more disconnected from our communities, families and bonds of love, “Brooklyn” becomes a beautiful reminder of what we are sociologically losing in a world of endless options and its on to the next one culture.
If you are looking to be moved by a film that is pure of heart, you cannot miss “Brooklyn”. It will make you believe in good, old-fashioned love again.
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-Prachi Kamble