jeudi 5 mai 2016

Review: “Brooklyn” is a Classic TimelessRomance

  


Brooklyn is a 2015 Irish-British-Canadian drama directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby, based on Colm Tóibín's novel of the same name. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. Set in 1951 and 1952, the film tells the story of a young Irish woman's immigration to Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within them for her.

Brooklyn premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. [4] It opened in limited release on 4 November 2015 in the United States and the UK on 6 November 2015. [5] The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture , Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Synopsis: An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a new romance. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.

Love and finding yourself is what John Crowley's Brooklyn is all about. The film is more than just a classic romance, it's relatable to just about anyone whose ever found themselves in a new place and feeling all alone. It's the 1950's and Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is leaving her native Ireland to embark on a new life journey in America. Leaving her mother and sister behind, Eilis arrives in Brooklyn with little money and a few acquaintances. It's not until she meets Tony (Emory Cohen) that her life changes and her perspective on her new adopted country changes completely.
Brooklyn is one of those rare pleasing films that combines romance and and self-discovery. These two aspects seamlessly transition together. At the core, the movie is about new beginnings. The internal struggle dealing with being alone in a foreign place. The film chronicles Eilis' path of attempting to let go of the past, while embracing the future. The plot is not predictably as it could have been, the plot-line turns that occur are crafted so well that there is a point that Eilis walks the line between charming and sweet to cold and calculated. The depth of the character is multi-layered.
Cinematographer Yves Belanger does flawless work with the fantastic portrait-like visuals of 1950's Brooklyn. The colors are bright and dynamic. The scene shots of the Ireland countryside have a classic feel to them. The depicted parallel between a beach in Ireland and one in New York is fascinating to see and compare. Ireland is open and endless, while the New York one is crowded and constricted. It's a commentary on the experience Eilis is adjusting to. The simplicity and comfort of Ireland versus the boisterous and overwhelming excitement of America. The costume design by Odile Dicks-Mireaux is timely and elegant. It's neat to see Eilis adjusting to the clothing style in America, and that bit carries over later in the film when she's displaying her beach attire and the contrast between her attire and one of her Irish friend turns into a scene worthy of a chuckle.
The costumes are very stylish and time approperiate
The costumes are very stylish and time appropriate
When it comes to acting, Ronan is simply supreme. She brings humor, zest, and charm to this role. Her performance as Eilis is so good that it's both touching, and at times even aggravating. Emory Cohen gets a bit lost in the shuffle with the Oscar worthy performance of Ronan, but he's also terrific. The quiet shy charm Tony has is a great complement to the more outspoken Eilis. Watching their romance develop is truly romantic and is certain to bring up some feelings or hopes of finding that one true love in the most unexpected way. The internal conflict she has about her feelings rings true also. Relationships and love is a complex thing, the film illustrates that nicely through its characters.



What this movie ultimately accomplishes is it makes you feel. The feelings of fear, loneliness, love, and loss, it's what makes this movie such a emotionally pleasing roller-coaster. It's an honest and positive take on a time when the world seemed to be a simpler place to live in, and that's in part of the film's beauty. Just as in Age of Adeline it's refreshing to see a film that's just purely about people. Authentic relatable stories can be told without needing any violence, guns, and constant profanity. The film's commentary on being an immigrant in a country that's one giant melting pot still rings true today as it did in any point. America is still the place where you can change your life for the better, no matter where you come from. Crowley honors the struggle and difficulty that's endured and he tells it through the eyes of an immigrant.

 In 1952, Eilis Lacey is a young woman from Enniscorthy, a small town in southeast Ireland, where she lives with her mother and sister Rose. She is unable to find employment, other than working weekends at a shop run by the spiteful Miss Kelly, and is not interested in the local young men. Her sister then writes to an Irish priest (Father Flood) in Brooklyn who arranged for her to go to the US to find a better future. She leaves but suffers from seasickness on the voyage and ends up being locked out of the toilet by her cabin neighbors. The woman in the bunk below her, an experienced traveler, helps her, giving her advice and support for Eilis's entry to the US and life in Brooklyn, the new home to many Irish immigrants.

Eilis lives at an Irish boarding house where she dines each night with the landlady and her fellow residents, all young women. She also has a job at a department store but is shy and quiet when interacting with customers, earning the gentle scolding of Miss Fortini, her supervisor. Her letters from her sister, back in Ireland, give her homesickness. She is visited by Father Flood, the priest who arranged for her job and accommodation, and he tries to help by enrolling her in bookkeeping classes. At a dance she meets Tony, from an Italian family, who is quickly interested in her and becomes her boyfriend. With these developments, Eilis begins to feel more comfortable in New York, although she is slow to return Tony's declaration of love.

Father Flood informs Eilis that Rose has died suddenly of an undisclosed illness. After a trans-Atlantic phone call with her mother reveals that she is struggling to cope, Eilis decides to return home for a visit. Tony insists that if she is leaving they must get secretly married first. They enter a civil marriage without telling family and friends. Back in Ireland, everybody seems to be conspiring to keep Eilis from returning to Brooklyn. Her best friend is getting married a week after her scheduled return journey, and her mother has already accepted the invitation on her behalf. She is set up on dates with eligible bachelor Jim, who is about to inherit property. She takes her sister's place as a bookkeeper on an emergency basis. Eilis starts to feel that she now has the future in Ireland that did not exist when she left and stops opening the letters she receives from Tony.

Miss Kelly, her former employer, meets with Eilis and says she has learned that she is already married. Eilis is reminded of what life was like in a small-town, a life she had escaped. She informs her mother of her marriage and that she is leaving for Brooklyn the next day. On the crossing, she plays the role of the experienced traveller, offering words of guidance to a first-time émigrée. The film ends with Eilis and Tony reuniting and happily embracing.
Production [edit]
Principal photography began on 1 April 2014 in Ireland, and was shot for three weeks at different locations including Enniscorthy, Wexford, and Dublin. [7] [8] [9] On the first day of shooting, Ronan was spotted in period costume on the set in Enniscorthy. [10] [11] After finishing production in Ireland, it then moved to Montreal, Quebec for a four weeks further. [8] Two days were spent shooting in New York at Coney Island.
Release [edit]
Brooklyn premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 26 January 2015. After it premiered, a bidding war began between The Weinstein Company, Focus Features and Fox Searchlight Pictures. Fox Searchlight Pictures prevailed, acquiring the distribution rights for U.S. and other multiple territories for $ 9 million. The deal was one of the biggest to ever come out of Sundance. [4] It was selected to be shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. [13] The film opened in a limited release in the United States on 4 November 2015, before opening in a wide release on 25 November 2015. [14]

Reception [edit]
Critical response [edit]
Brooklyn received a rapturous standing ovation at its Sundance Film Festival premiere. [15] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 222 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5 / 10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Brooklyn buttresses outstanding performances from Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen with a rich period drama that tugs at the heartstrings as deftly as it satisfies the mind." [16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [17] on its Oscar nominations, one critic said that "It deserves its place."
Box office [edit]
As of 13 April 2016, Brooklyn has grossed $ 38.2 million in North America and $ 21.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $ 60 million, against a budget of $ 11 million. [19] [20] As of early February 2016, Brooklyn's box office gross in Canada alone exceeded C $ 4-million, giving it the highest cumulative domestic gross of any Canadian film released in 2015. [21] [22] The film had the biggest opening of any Irish film in Ireland since 1996 earning over $ 650,000 from 87 theaters, making it the strongest drama debut since Michael Collins opened to $ 662,000 in November 1996.

Accolades [edit]
Main article: List of accolades received by Brooklyn (film)
Brooklyn has received many nominations for industry and critics awards including three nominations for the 88th Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress. Ronan's performance in particular was praised and has garnered her Oscar, BAFTA, [24] Critics' Choice, [25] Golden Globe, [26] and SAG nominations for best actress. [27] She has also won the BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film. [28] Julie Walters was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs. [24] The film won the Audience Favorite Gold Award in World Cinema at the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Rogers People's Choice Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Virginia Film Festival. Cohen was named Breakthrough Performer at the Hamptons International Film Festival. [29] It won 2 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Musical Score and 2 18th Quebec Cinema Awards (formerly known as the Prix Jutra), for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction .

Brooklyn was also named one of the best films of 2015, featuring on over 120 Top 10 Critics' Lists. It is ranked both fourth on Rotten Tomatoes and fifth on Metacritic's best reviewed films of 2015
Television spin-off The BBC is working on a new drama which will revolve around Mrs Keogh played by Julie Walters and a group of American, English and Irish girls in her care at her boarding house. Saoirse Ronan is not expected to return. Finola Dwyer confirmed the plans, and had suggested the idea to Colm Tóibín, the author of original novel, before there was a first draft of the film
brooklyns
The emotional struggle Eilis is on is will make you love her and hate her at times
I loved and appreciated this movie for what it is. When a film makes you feel, think, relate, and hope, it accomplishes it's purpose. There is an Eilis in all of us at some point in our lives. It does not matter where you come from and who you are, the American dream is still attainable today as it was back then. Love has no boundaries, different backgrounds and cultures is what untie us. In the movie Tony utters the phrase, "Home is home," and that statement truly

applies to anyone in a timeless manner.

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