Review of The Immigrant (2013) by Bart G — 25 May 2014

"The Immigrant" will stand the test of time, maybe even become a classic. Marion Coitillard gives an amazing if restrained performance as the 1920s Polish immigrant who fell in with a ruthless New York "businessman" who preys on female immigrants without means by luring them from Ellis Island to his Ziegfield Follies show which fronts for a brothel.

But Joaquin Phoenix even tops Cotillard as the evil pimp who has the connections she lacks to earn the money she needs to get her sister out of the hospital on Ellis Island.

Jeremy Brenner is fine as Phoenix's seemingly happy-go-lucky magician cousin who falls for Cotillard's character, too, setting up a dangerously-unstable triangle that you just know isn't going to end well.

There are many twists and turns in this very intense story, not the least of which is the two leads fall for each other, against all odds. A lesser film would have them living happily ever after, but this one soars far above the Hollywood formulaic melodrama, so more surprises are in store for us after that. When The End comes, it isn't pat, but it does satisfy as the right one.