Review of Brooklyn (2015) by Jenny Lou C — 29 Apr 2016

BROOKLYN: It's essentially just a story about a girl torn between a decision to live in the past or choose a life with no connection to it.

Knowing she didn't have anything good left to do in her hometown, an Irish girl named Eilis travelled a long way from home with the help from a family's friend and endured the seasickness. Little did she know that what awaits her in New York were just mere desperate girls like her trying to fit in and distress caused by separation from family. It was only until she met Tony, who eventually became her boyfriend and the highlight of her city life, when she finally felt that she belonged. Just as when things were going too well for Eilis, things had gone awry back home, which sent her packing. Now back in her own hometown, she met another fellow named Jim, got a proper job, surprisingly, and thought things would be good for her, perhaps better, if she stayed.

Clearly, it would have been just a typical old-fashioned story about love and family had it not been with the perfect talented cast, profound screenplay and calming atmospheric lighting.

I could completely see the change Eilis, portrayed by the amazing Saoirse Ronan, went through the film. From a lonely homesick country girl to a bold confident woman, Saoirse was able to muster perfect delivery of independence. There was something in her luminous icy blue eyes during heartfelt scenes that no words or gestures could amount to.

I also fell in love with Emory's character, Tony, because he was exactly the Prince Charming we read or see in fairy tales, so sweet and funny, it was a wonder why it took awhile for Eilis to remember how amazing her life was with him. I felt sorry for Jim though. He was basically just a pawn in the story and I hated Eilis for it.

What sent me to tears was the moment where Eilis' sister died and Eilis couldn't do anything about it, nor attend the funeral, even more when her mother called and begged her, Eilis, to come home because she was lonely and had no one around anymore. It was just pure words and despair that made me feel how selfish Eilis must have felt if I was in her shoes. To quote her mother,.

"Nobody knew what to say to me. When your daddy died, I said to myself that I shouldn't grieve too much because I had the two of you. Then when you went to America, I told myself the same thing because she was here with me.

But everyone's gone, Eilis. I have nobody.".

I could tell Brooklyn was a bit mistaken for a romantic tale. It was underrated. Crowley must have made it that way - to keep everything under such impression. And then it would hit you in the gut and make you realize that it was about choosing where you need to be at, that home is home but it doesn't have to be the place where you grew up.