Review of The Immigrant (2013) by Mauro A — 23 Jul 2014

*Official better than The Mummy Returns seal.*.

The Immigrant is a 2014 (2013 some countries) period piece drama film directed by James Grey and starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. Cotillard, in one of her best performances of her career, plays Ewa. She is a Polish immigrant who is coming with her sister to live at her aunt and uncle's house in the United States in order escape the conditions of her native country. However, shortly after arrival, their plan begins to fall apart when Ewa's sister get's taken to the medical ward of Ellis island to recover from her presumed illness. Ewa is denied entry because of an event that took place during her voyage. She is taken somewhere for holding and told that she will likely be sent back to Poland.

Shortly after being held captive, Ewa meets a man named Bruno, played powerfully by Joaquin Phoenix. He arranges for her to be set free and takes her to his home. Any notions of sainthood we may have presumed of him quickly fade away as we learn the type of business he is in. He takes Ewa to his place of business where she meets "the girls", women who work for Bruno, doing strip shows and servicing clients. He convinces Ewa to become a part of this business in order to acquire the money needed to help her sister, who is still on the medical ward of Ellis Island.

Through a series of events, including her running away from Bruno, Ewa finds herself on Ellis Island, again facing deportation. Here, she meets the magician Orlando, played by Jeremy Renner, who we later learn is Bruno's cousin. Still facing deportation, Bruno manages to rescue her again, shedding light onto the fact that he is truly falling in love with her, where he just saw her as a tool to make a profit before. And thus, a sort of complicated love triangle begins to form.

Throughout the rest of the film, the characters continue to grow and evolve through their interactions, questioning what they once thought was the right path, and the journey of such is magnificent. The whole cast does a good job here, but it is Phoenix and Cotillard who shine out from the pack. Some people might shy away from liking this film due to the lack of a central character without questionable morals. Some might find the film to be pretentiously slow. I disagree with both. The point isn't what morals they may have had, but what they evolve into and who they become. There have been better Independent films this year, but this is very good if not great in it's own right. It's a captivating experience and the time flew by while I watched it. If you like period pieces, I highly recommend giving this a shot.