BROOKLYN is an old-fashioned film, a film where you quickly know you’re in good hands. A film that entertains, moves, is nice to look at, and smart and witty through it all which is probably mostly due to screenwriter Nick Hornby (ABOUT A BOY, HIGH FIDELITY). In the 50s young Ellis (Saoirse Ronan) can’t see a future for herself in her Irish small town, where both her mother and sister live. She finds work in New York with the help of a Catholic priest, packs the little that she owns, and travels in a windowless cabin. At first, Eilis’ world doesn’t get any bigger. She lives in a small boarding house with four other young women and the very Catholic Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Waters), works in a department store, and is very homesick. The only diversion she has are the Catholic dance events where she meets Tony (Emory Cohen), a young Italian plumber. Things seem to be going better but then Eilis has to suddenly go back to Ireland. BROOKLYN represents a historic migration experience but the feelings of reorientation that come with moving from somewhere small to the big city are relatable to anyone. You’re homesick, start making new connections, forget the old ones, feel more adult than you are, boast to your old friends, and are ashamed of the new ones. In the end it’s about the decision between a secure life in a limiting world and an uncertain, self-determined challenge. BROOKLYN brings to mind the great dramas of David Lean or John Ford, with its wide-ranging arcs and images, though the ending relates to a modern understanding of time and the world.

Toni Ohms

Translation: Elinor Lewy