Brooklyn

Everyone in this life has a moment when they feel out of place or different from other people who around them.  Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) lives in a small town in Ireland and has always been discontent with her life there.  Such discontent is at the center of John Crowley’s Brooklyn.  Eilis is given an opportunity to travel to Brooklyn, New York through her church.  In New York she would be given an education and a job at a department store.  The journey Eilis goes on becomes one of self-discovery and self-acceptance.  She falls in love with a man named Tony (Emory Cohen) but ultimately her story is something universal.  How do you really know where you belong in life?  This is question that plagues us all but Brooklyn gives an answer that many I expect will find satisfying and enriching in their own lives.

The central theme of this film is displacement.  Eilis is working extremely hard to figure out the rules of this new environment she now inhabits which is literally a world apart from what she used to know.  Ronan does the best work of her career in exhibiting her character’s confusion and at times bewilderment at the rules of living in America.  Arguably, the best moments of this theme are represented when Eilis is spending time with Tony.  She has the opportunity to learn about culture from his Italian family.  She also comes out of her shell most when she’s learning things while with him and having experiences.  Ronan’s comes across as earnest.  Audiences will genuinely feel like they are in her shoes and that’s the thing about films like Brooklyn they draw you in and don’t let go until the film’s credits roll.

The thing about Brooklyn is that it exposes audiences to the vulnerability of feeling out of place and oddly that Eilis goes on is what makes the film so engrossing.  Aside from Ronan’s mesmerizing turn as Eilis, Emory Cohen plays possibly the most likable love interest I have ever seen with his character of Tony.  He is incredibly attentive to Eilis’s struggle to belong in a place she is not from.  He uses his knowledge of culture and his clear charm in order to win her over and support her through the year.

Another great joy of the film is that it is so beautifully shot by director John Crowley.  The environments feel lived in and accurate to the time period and what makes this stand out so much is that audiences will want to travel with those people.  Audiences will find that life journey universal because of all the detailed effort that went into creating the journey Eilis went on.

The strongest moment in this film comes when Eilis has to absorb a devastating loss in her life.  How that experience alters her view on her life and changes her life for the better very much reminds me of a similar life experience I faced while still growing up.  The struggles of how someone matures or changes as a young adult are universal and makes Brooklyn a very special and unique viewing experience that I can’t wait to see again.