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| New York State of Mind: Saoirse Ronan stars in "Brooklyn" |
Exquisitely emotional, visually lyrical, and
meticulously well-observed, “Brooklyn”—directed by John Crowley, written by
Nick Hornby and adapted from the novel of the same name by Colm Toiben—is
easily one of the best movies about leaving home to start a new life to come
along in a while.
The film, set in 1951, follows the path of a young Irish
woman, Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), from her roots in a small town in Southeast
Ireland to the densely populated New York borough of the title, where opportunities
exist—she has a room at a boarding house and a job waiting, courtesy of the
kindly Irish priest, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), who has sponsored her—that
otherwise didn’t back home.
Across the ocean, fresh experiences, tentative
friendships and eventually a sweet romance with a short, affable Italian man (Emory
Cohen) develop, but not before Eilis, having left her mom and sister behind as
well as the comfort of familiarity, deals with crushing spells of isolation in
this strange, beautiful, crowded new world.
Intricately and ingeniously multilayered, “Brooklyn” is
part love story, part coming of age chronicle and in many ways a subtle, stunningly
well-realized essay about the sting of homesickness, a malaise the affects of
which aren’t limited to the main character.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the best scene takes
place when Eilis, helping to serve food to a group of elderly Irish immigrants
during Christmas, stands by when one of them sings Casadh an Tsúgáin (The Twisting of the Rope), a traditional Irish
lament that brings the old men to tears with sad reminders of being young,
falling in love, and dreaming of home.
“These are the men who built the bridges, the tunnels,
the highways,” Father Flood says. Although it focuses on one Irish girl moving
to New York, since many others were doing the same thing in the 1950s,
“Brooklyn” is also a remarkable cinematic document, a nostalgic glimpse of how
America began.
Material this compelling is capable of overwhelming an
indiscriminate director. But Crowley, who is also Irish, brings a firm grasp
and personal vision to the proceedings with a style—long takes, loose framing,
luminous lighting, stirring establishing shots—that gives the actors room to
breathe while lending the film a distinctive sense of immediacy, honesty and
warmth.
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| Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen in "Brooklyn" |
When Crowley does use a close-up, “Brooklyn” soars
because it’s usually the highly expressive Ronan—brilliantly conveying Eilis'
combination of vulnerability and strength with her thoughtful eyes and soft
smile—dominating both the lens and our emotions.
“Brooklyn” is another triumph for Hornby, who also adapted
the screenplay for the masterful “Wild” with Reese Witherspoon. Both stories
are about young women on epic, individual journeys. And even though they have substantial
differences, some fascinating parallels remain.
Where the introspective protagonist of “Wild” takes on a
grueling, thousand-mile hike up the Pacific Crest Trail with only a backpack, a
notebook, and a head full of painful memories, the heroine in “Brooklyn” leaves
her homeland to be surrounded by denizens in a noisy milieu swarming with
action and life. Along the way, each character confronts different kinds of
loneliness, profound sadness, and finally resolve.
