Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Amy-Lauren B — 09 Aug 2016

Brooklyn may tell the story of one girl, but it also encompasses the historical story of many. Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is an Irish immigrant in the 1950s, who with the help of her sister and her church, travels alone to Brooklyn seeking a bigger and better life. After a rocky start plagued by homesickness, she meets Tony (Emory Cohen), and their romance makes Brooklyn a home. Her newfound bliss is cut short, when unforeseen circumstances and heartbreak call Eilis back to Ireland. She is tore between her new found love and life in America, and the comfort of her old life; family, friends and new opportunities.

Thematically, Brooklyn makes Eilis' character play a drawn out game of tug-of-war. Leaving her family for the unknown, she missing them sickening. Despite begin surrounded by familiar accents and the mothering figure of Julie Walters as her landlady, we very much feel her sense of loneliness. I could hardly bare the sequence where she receives her first letter from home. In the second act, we watch her finding her feet and falling in love for the first time. It doesn't take a veteran movie-goer to sense this can't last for long - we are only an hour in after all. When her equilibrium gets flipped again and she finds herself back in Ireland, we feel her heart-strings pulled all over again - this time longing for Tony but also confused by her feelings of happiness and content without him. It's not very often I watch a movie with these kinds of themes and find myself unsure of how it's going to end. But Brooklyn is genuine a refreshing change, I honestly couldn't decide where she would ultimately call home by the time of the credits.

The films biggest strengths for me lie in it's casting and performances. Saoirse Ronan is at an all time best here- she is cinematically enchanting in almost an old-Hollywood style. She completely carries the film, which is filled with outstanding supporting performances. Actresses like her and Jennifer Lawrence, and the performances that they have achieved make it a very exciting time for actresses right now (side note: very much looking forward to Joy). Emory Cohen has a very similar quality in this film, and its fantastic to see him again in a totally different role to the ones I've seen him in before (Smash, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Gambler). They have an enigmatic chemistry, I think you'd have to pretty coldhearted to call their on-screen relationship into question (though maybe I am biased by my Italian partner).

The UK theatrical release is slightly unfortunate, given the release of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Spectre in close proximity. The showing I went to was the only one that day, which is pretty unfortunate given that it is head and shoulders above many of the other films dominating the box office. It has a slight Oscar-bait buzz about it, but I genuinely hope it is well received by those who see it. Saoirse Ronan is exceptional in Brooklyn, I'd expect a nomination for her at the very least, though she completely deserves to win. I think without question, this is my favorite film of the year - it's definitely the film I had the strongest reaction to in the cinema.

My verdict on this film is pretty obvious - for me, it gets 5 stars. Now, I just have to wait in anticipation for its home release so I can watch it all over again.