Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Jennifer B — 31 Jan 2016

This film used classic textbook techniques to tell a classic coming of age story for the modern woman.

Instead of relying on being purely original, it perfected standard camera angles and transitions, allowing us to focus on and invest in story and characters, instead of obsessing over what the camera and lighting were doing, which is appropriate for some films, but not this one, which was recognized and appreciated.

The most impressive thing was that the film was conceptualized in the most pure way and the care showed through all of the layers of production. The writing was excellent - we were shown the story, not told, which is incredibly important. The director understood this, and used the aforementioned camera techniques to play off of this; we gained more insight into the characters' thoughts by looking into their eyes and faces just a moment longer than your typical modern film would, with second-long cuts being the popular norm.

On top of all of this, the actors understood the writer and the director, and acted the hell out of their characters, making for a tidy performance by all involved.

The only gripe I have is literally the last 30 seconds with the voice over and freeze frame. After such a beautiful story and refreshing employment of skill, the tritefreeze frame just distracted and discredited the final impression and left me a little confused. It is a testament to how fantastic the film is, though, if the freeze frame is the only thing out of place that is bothersome.