Since it has premiered at TIFF, we would have a lot of reviews/reactons. I think it would be best to start a thread with
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Steve7216 — 10 years ago(September 17, 2015 10:38 AM)
BROOKLYN plays TIFF 2015
by RYAN MCNEIL on Sep 15, 2015 7:00 pm 1 Comment
ronan & cohen
Many of us in the world owe a great deal to our ancestors for daring to dream a little bigger. Once upon a time, they left behind everything they knew and went out into the great unknown in search of a better life and better opportunities.
Whats more, they often did so when those around them didnt think they couldwhich might have been the greatest challenge of all.
BROOKLYN is the story of Eillis (Saoirse Ronan). The second-born daughter of a single mother in a quiet Irish town, Eillis longs to move to America and seek better opportunities eventually getting her wish. Doe-eyed when she first arrives, she is shepherded into life in America by her boarding house-mother (Julie Walters), and the parish priest (Jim Broadbent). She eventually shakes off a bad case of homesickness and falls hard for an Italian boy named Tony (Emory Cohen). The two fall deeply in love and seem well on their way to building a life together, until a family emergency calls Eillis back to Ireland, and finds her seriously considering not going back.
Theres a candy-coloured gloss to BROOKLYN; a honey tinted glow that serves its characters well and romanticizes the era. The look and the tone it conveys gives the film a bit less bite than it may have otherwise had, but it does a lot to play up the romance at the centre of the story and the actress that carries it all.
We never want to think about the prejudice and racism that would have been thrown at a woman like Eillis, we never want to think about how many decisions were made for a character like Eillis. We want to think about the way love helps us grow, and the way the past always seems more romantic. What better way to do that than to pan across bustling lunch counters and sweep through the lobby of a 1950s movie house? How better to look upon our heroine as a beacon (and lord-ee, does Ronan play an amazing beacon) than to make her resplendent in vibrant shades of green, yellow, and pink?
Theres really nothing wrong with that, its just a wish that the film dialled down the sweet and pumped up a bit of the bitter.
BROOKLYN is at its best when it questions our notions of home. When Eillis first gets to America, she feels so far away from what she knows and life as she knows it. Home is an ocean away at that moment. When she eventually returns to Ireland, we can see how differently she now sees it and what life in America with Tony has meant to her. Home is no longer associated with the place she grew up. BROOKLYN sees that the search for a place we can feel most ourselves and most vulnerable isnt defined by our papers or a parse of land.
We forget that sometimes as we muddle along, so its wonderful that films like BROOKLYN exist to tell us who we are and remind us of who we were.
http://tinyurl.com/pzhtbqj -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(September 17, 2015 03:31 PM)
Before posting the review, I'd like to provide some context. During Sundance, I e-mailed Jeff to inquire about whether he'd seen Brooklyn. The next day he posted and admitted he messed up by seeing a documentary instead. Honestly, I thought it was just a coincidence. Not this time. I e-mailed him yesterday and asked if he was going to give Brooklyn a full review and also if he'd actually seen it at Toronto. Just a while ago he posted a wonderful review. He must take good care of his readers.
Back to Brooklyn
I didnt see John Crowleys masterful Brooklyn (Fox Searchlight, 11.4 limited) here in Toronto, but in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago. I had initially watched it on a third-generation dupe DVD, but even under those crummy conditions the internals were unmissable. Brooklyn is a gentle, perfectly judged, profoundly stirring romantic classic not just set in the early 50s but shot, timed, cut and performed in a way that approximates the aesthetic st5b4andards of that era. Its an amber time-capsule movie with a pulse and what feels to me like a real Irish heartbeat, and a feeling of things blooming and beginning and modest people trying to do the right thing.
Brooklyn could have been released in 52 alongside High Noon, Singin In The Rain and The Bad and the Beautiful and audiences would have nodded and applauded and said the same things people are saying now This is a film I could take my mother to, but its good enough to satisfy the toughest, most cynical criticsa rooted love story, a film about decent and believable folk as well as tradition, discretion, real love and 1950s Brooklyn family values.
A good movie doesnt have to go wham-bam-kaboom and made audiences go holy beep just happened? to earn a seat at the Best Picture table, and this is one such occasion. Theres a time and a place for every kind of film, and thank God an effort like Brooklyn has come along a fine little reminder of the pleasures of emotional simplicity served up in a low-key, no-bull fashion. Cutting-edge cognoscenti might be looking for something flashier or jizzier but people who know from quality will presumably recognize and warm to Brooklyns timelessness. A Best Picture nomination seem assured, as I noted last month.
And there can be no doubt that Saoirse Ronans performance as Elis Lacey, a young Irish immigrant torn between tw2000o nice-guy suitors, is solemn and understated and quietly mesmerizing, and therefore a near-lock for a Best Actress nomination.
Ditto Crowley for Best Director and Nick Hornby for Best Adapted Screenplay. Yves Belangers elegant cinematography also warrants a nom.
Brooklyn is basically about young Elliss journey from Ireland to America to start a new life, and then falling in love with Tony Firello (Emory Cohen), a kindly Italian plumber of 25 or thereabouts who wants to marry her and build a home and start a family. But then she returns to Ireland to mourn the death of her sister, and soon after feels the pull of the heartland and wonders if she should maybe re-think her situation and stay with her own ones. Should she choose an American future or an Irish past?
I have only two beefs with the entire film.
One involves the pairing of Ellis and Tony a perfect match that seems right all around. Except during their first date its clear that Ronan is a good three or four inches taller than Cohen, and right away youre thinking why did they cast such a short guy? Women generally prefer men who are at least as tall if not taller than their own height, certainly in the 50s, and yet they cast a guy who could play a jockey or star in a biopic of Pee-Wee Reese. Why? To what end?
The other problem happens at the end of Act Two, and it involves what anyone would call a kind of faithlessness. When Ellis returns to Ireland she starts seeing Domhnall Gleesons Jim Farrell, an eligible, well-dressed young man who is clearly falling in love within minutes of their first meeting. And hes not the only one. Its as if the word has gone out to the entire population of Ireland to roll out the red carpet in every way imaginable so as to change Ellis mind about marrying Tony and persuading her to stay.
And as this began to happen I was telepathically saying to Ellis, Wow, change your mind much? Youve got a really good guy back in Brooklyn who worships the ground you walk on, and youre thinking about blowing him off because of a little Irish sentimentality about the homeland? And because Gleesons character has money? Flightyness is not an attractive quality, girl.
Other than these quibbles Brooklyn is as good as this sort of thing gets.
http://tinyurl.com/p5hde7o -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(February 21, 2016 04:57 PM)
There are still great tweets every day about Brooklyn and her performance. I stopped posting them for a while partly because there were so many it was hard to keep up. Here are some recent ones:
Clayton VValter @schmvngpctrs 1h1 hour ago
A second viewing of BROOKLYN has confirmed for me that Saoirse Ronan has the best face in the movie business.
^The above guy says he works in the industry and is an aspiring screen writer.
This Charming Flan @keepthemuse 1h1 hour ago
In case you wondered, BROOKLYN is still beautiful, and Saoirse Ronan conveys the whole world with just a few blinks against a still frame.
Lance Mannion @LanceMannion 3h3 hours ago Bronx, NY
More on Brooklyn: Can't even begin to tell you how good Saoirse Ronan is so I'll just settle for saying the entire cast is wonderful.
Dylan Alexander @DylanJAlexander 2h2 hours ago
I absolutely LOVED Brooklyn! Such a beautiful and heart-warming film with an incredible performance by Saoirse Ronan! Highly recommend
Christina Newland @christinalefou 4h4 hours ago
Thinking about Emory Cohen and Saoirse Ronan in Brooklyn and how incredibly lovely their romance is.
Taylor L @taylorshayna 18m18 minutes ago
If you haven't seen Brooklyn, do yourself a favor and find a theater playing it and go see it now. So good. #SaoirseRonan #Booklyn
Liam Borrett @LiamBorrett 41m41 minutes ago
Saw BROOKLYN at last today. Outstanding. Get Saoirse Ronan an Oscar NOW.
^This guy describes himself as a theater director and playwright.
The Gregor @Gregor_G 8h8 hours ago
I am still so very moved by having watched the film #Brooklyn yesterday. Truly beautiful storytelling. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(February 22, 2016 08:06 PM)
Here is an excerpt from Rob Samuelson of The Sun Times Network written today:
The performances are all excellent, but Saoirse Ronan stands out. She earned a nomination for Actress in a Leading Role for a reason. Hers is a subtle but noticeable physical transformation that dovetails with Eilis internal journey. She begins Eilis American lb68ife by taking small, unsure steps, keeping her head down and hoping not to get in anyones way. She doesnt know what to do with her life, but as she finds her aptitude in night school to become a bookkeeper, she begins to look forward more often.
She makes direct eye contact when talking with people. She learns what she wants and she begins to understand how to get it. The movie is, in part, a grandiose coming-of-age story, but its subtler, more graceful elements, as portrayed by Ronan in particular, are what separate it from other tales of this variety.
For the entire piece:
http://national.suntimes.com/national-entertainment/7/72/2639066/oscars-watch-case-brooklyn/ -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(March 10, 2016 03:24 AM)
Norwich Cinema: 'Brooklyn' a spellbi5b4nding vision of love, longing
"Brooklyn" actress Saoirse Ronan delivers as astonishing performance in this tale of love."Brooklyn" actress Saoirse Ronan delivers as astonishing performance in this tale of love.
By Jason Sheldon For The Bulletin
Posted Mar. 9, 2016 at 5:10 PM
Norwich Community Cinema's film for March is "Brooklyn," a beautifully rendered romantic drama set in the New York City borough and Southeast Ireland of the early 1950s.
The movie follows Eilis Lacey, played with subtlety and nuance by Saoirse Ronan, a young woman who travels to America for work and education until she finds herself drawn back to her hometown in Ireland.
Throughout the course of her time on both continents, she falls in love with two men, finding herself torn not only in her heart, but by the paths and opportunities that accompany her choices on opposite sides of the ocean.
Ronan is entrancing in her portrayal of Eilis, with many long takes lingering on her delicate features, which express a number of competing emotions, conveying the complexity of her character's feelings and displaying
her prowess as a gifted actress.
Attending a dance early in the film just before her imminent departure for the United States, she looks nostalgic and pained for what she's leaving behind while equally hopeful and determined to tackle the challenges that await her, all in the span of2000 a few cinematic seconds.
Though the landscapes, textiles and architecture of the film are gorgeously detailed, it is Ronan's balance of modest and impassioned presentation of Eilis that truly charms us and charges the film with sensitivity and sensibility.
Brooklyn was nominated for Best Picture, Best Leading Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards.
Though it failed to win an Oscar, its acclaim and status as a contender is well-deserved.
There will be baked goods and drinks for purchase as well as bottomless $2 popcorn. You are always welcome to bring your own food and beverages.
We invite you for a relaxing evening to enjoy the striking images and arresting performances as you allow yourself to be absorbed in Eilis's transformative journey in the comfort of our theater.
http://tinyurl.com/zbwsmuw -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(March 14, 2016 09:47 PM)
This is from a South Jersey paper part of The USA Today network. I'm posting it because I think the title is kind of lovely and true.
Saoirse Ronan fulfills promise in da0'Brooklyn'
AMY LONGSDORF, For the Courier-Post 12:03 a.m. EDT March 15, 2016
Brooklyn (2015, Fox, PG-13, $30) Irish actress Saoirse Ronan fulfills the promise of her early work in Atonement and Hanna with this lovely look at a young woman who emigrates from Ireland to New York in the 1950s. No sooner does Eilis Lacey settle into her new life, which includes a romance with an Italian-American plumber (Emory Cohen), than a family tragedy calls her back home. Its immensely moving to watch Eilis struggle with homesickness and heartbreak on her journey to adulthood. Blessed with on-target turns by veterans Julie Walters and Jim Broadbent, Brooklyn works as both a coming-of-age drama and an old-fashioned romance.
Extras: featurettes. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(March 17, 2016 01:01 AM)
It's been so long (January 2015) since Brooklyn had its very first official screening to a general audience at Sundance. I believe the very first tweet I read that evening right after the conclusion of the screening was from Ramin Setoodeh, a man who was then the New York editor of films for Variety. He was promoted a few months ago.
It was a great night because in one of his tweets, he said Saoirse would be going back to the Kodak Theater for her performance.
That same evening, the other tweets were just over the moon about the film and her in particular. It was off to the races!
Here we are now over a year later. Below are just a few recent tweets about the film:
Connor Land @ConnorLand2 1h1 hour ago
Just saw the movie Brooklyn, and it is now one of my all-time favorites. Saoirse Ronan. What a heavyweight.
Leslie beep 3h3 hours ago
Wow. Saoirse Ronan is INCREDIBLE. Brooklyn was the second movie of hers I have watched and I am blown away. What a film. -
jlent — 10 years ago(March 17, 2016 06:01 AM)
The Blu-Ray and DVD are out. Eleven deleted scenes. I particularly like one that highlights racial issues when Dorothy (the store worker Eillis meets her first day on the job in the store lockers) objects to selling nylons designed for5b4 black customers. It might have been a little jarring to insert it in the middle of story. You can see the tale end of it as Eillis is putting up boxes of the nylons and Miss Fortini comes in with Father Flood who has the news of Rose's death.
But get the DVD, it has a wonderful commentary from director Crowley that focuses on the making of the film, what he was after, and discussion of Saoirse's performance. One nice tidbit I learned: The Irish beach Eilis, Jim, Nancy and Nancy's beau go swimming in was the same beach Stephen Spielberg used for the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan. -
Steve7216 — 10 years ago(March 17, 2016 06:13 AM)
That's good info jlent. I bought the Blu-Ray on the 15th and will take the time to look at the film and the extras when my company leaves. Lovely beach.
I'm of the firm belief Brooklyn is an instant classic that'll hold up over time. If you put aside the opinions here, just remember many of the most respected film critics including those in the U.K. loved the film. -
jlent — 10 years ago(March 17, 2016 06:51 AM)
Oh yeah, instant. This was my sixth viewing and still not an ounce of fatigue setting in.
I like how Crowley would explain Saoirse's appeal using the particulars of a scene she was in as we are watching the scene. -
ajoyce212 — 10 years ago(March 20, 2016 07:04 PM)
I received my copy of Brooklyn on Friday (one day late for St. Patrick day) but watched today Sunday. I only saw the movie once in the cinema and really enjoyed my 2nd viewing. What a perfect movie 27 up 27 down no runs, hits, or errors.
Sorry can't help but throw a sports reference in my posts. Blu-Ray extras did not disappoint either. -
JaneThree — 10 years ago(March 28, 2016 07:52 AM)
One of my favorite parts of Brooklyn is that extended close-up at the Irish dance (the one in Ireland, not the one in Brooklyn). It's the sort of extended close-up that can register as a stunt - sort of look what a great actor I am. I won't mention a couple of actors/actresses who come off that way. Saoirse lives in that close-up in a completely natural way. She's the real deal and then some.
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Steve7216 — 9 years ago(July 28, 2016 04:22 PM)
Don't want to lose this thread.
Brooklyn (From: Dear Cast and Crew)
By Tim McEown
Mailed on February 04, 2016
Stamp image Air
Mail
Dear Nick Hornby
Writer
Dear Nick,
What I find compelling about the films youre involved with is their lucid portrayal of a particular species of love. In High Fidelity, About A Boy, Wild, and now Brooklyn, love is depicted as an effort to pay attention, and to understand without judgment. In the worlds you create, love is about seeing the person in front of you, and accepting that theyre probably as flawed a creature as you.
This is something John Cusaks Rob Gordon is slow to learn in High Fidelity, and Hugh Grants Will Freeman is perhaps even slower to comprehend in About A Boy. It is a truth that evades Reese Witherspoons Cherylespecially when it comes to herselffor almost the entirety of Wild. But in Brooklyn, this truth seems to be integral to Saoirse (sounds like inertia) Ronans Eilis from birth. Consequently, the film is far more concerned with the impediments that life throws in front of all of usin our search for love and belongingthan any kind of interior journey.
Set in the early 1950s, Brooklyn is very much Eiliss story. We follow her from her native Ireland, where she is completely unfulfilled, to Brooklyn, New Yorkand what is essentially a halfway house for young, unmarried women. There she is shepherded by an Irish priestplayed benevolently by Jim Broadbent in a role he could have sleepwalked through, but didntuntil she finds employment in a Macys-like department store.
The rest of the film concerns itself with Eilis and her new lifethe ups and downs, ins and outs of a young women discovering how the world operates. In many ways, this film is boilerplate in its plot construction, but it is never hackneyed. This is due to the restrained tone (there is never a scene that feels heightened or contrived), uniformly strong performances and the superb attention to detail in the costume and set design.
However, what really makes Brooklyn special is Ronan and her tremendous presence. She is a remarkable actress and entirely too self possessed for someone so young. So many moments in this film are carried by a simple gesture or a subtle tell in Ronans demeanor. Couple this rare ability with her talent for infusing dialogue with a quiet veracity, and Ronans performance becomes something special to watch.
While Eiliss burgeoning love life is what drives the plot, it is the small, idiosyncratic details that you include that help differentiate this film from a thousand others. The most entertaining of which is Mrs. Keoghthe tyrannical matriarch of the boarding houseportrayed in a marvelously cranky turn by Julie Waters. She is a both a character and the same time a fully realized human being a feat of writing that is vanishingly rare in any medium. As a result of this kind of nuanced work, moments that could have been heavy handed or overt are given a gentle twist that feels authentic and emotionally honest in a way that you dont often see, especially in major studio releases. Add to that the absolute fidelity of the visuals to a particular time and placethis is Brooklyn in the early fiftiesand you have a film that is far more than the sum of its trailers.
Also, the sharp casting choice of her two suitorsEmory Cohen as Tony and Domhnall Gleeson as Jimis just another feature in a long list that helps elevate Brooklyn far above the Madding Crowd.
It is perhaps surprising to some that Brooklyn is nominated for an Oscar in the Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress categories. In many ways this is a small, intimate film without much in the way of overt fireworks. But the craft at work, the script you produced, and the memorable character that Ronan creates in Eilis, make this a special film.
All things considered, Brooklyn is eminently worthy of the kind of recognition it is receiving and a fine addition to an already impressive body of work. Good luck on Oscar night, Nick.
Sincerely,
Tim
http://tinyurl.com/hqc873a