Review of The Immigrant (2013) by Nídio A — 24 Sep 2014

Post war drama directed by James Gray, starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner was quite a heavy weight watching. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and I believe that it was close to the top! The working titles of the film were Low Life and The Nightingale, and I am really glad that the better name option was later discovered.

The story takes us in year 1921, when a Catholic Polish woman Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and her sister Magda (Angela Sarafyan) arrive at Ellis Island, New York City as immigrants. Looking for a better life after escaping their ravaged home in post-Great War Poland did not start well. Magda is quarantined because of her lung disease, and Ewa , who was raped on the ship, is almost deported! A stranger named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) notices her and her fluency in English and bribes an officer to let her go. Bruno takes Ewa to his house, but soon Ewa discovers that she has to make money to get Magda out...Bruno lets her dance at the Bandits' Roost theatre but that is not enough. She becomes a prostitute for her boss Bruno who starts getting romantically interested in her as well...

According to the director James Gray, the movie is "80% based on the recollections from my grandparents, who came to the United States in 1923", and he described it as "my most personal and autobiographical film to date", but he was also inspired by Giacomo Puccini's opera Il Trittico. It is a significant work of art which sometimes carries a heavy burden but lacks momentum which drags the events even slower. Performances were outstanding and probably the strongest part of the cinematic experience! Worth watching!