Charming. Soft. Lovely. Touching. Bittersweet. These are the new film, adapted from the novel, Brooklyn. It’s a wonderfully quiet film, entertaining gently, but leaving the viewer better for sharing the story—the story of a young girl as she moves from Ireland to Brooklyn, starting life over in the 1950s. It is not just a story about her move; it’s a wonderful story about youth and love and loss and family.
I finished reading this book in the past couple of weeks. So the story was fresh in my mind. And of course, as often must occur, much of the detail of the novel is left out in the movie, many of those areas of detail being things that bring more character into the lives of the players. But the film brings so much more to light to the words on the page with the wonderful performances by Saoirse Ronan as Eilis and Emory Cohen as Tony. Thus, I’m easily able to forgive those parts left out.
Ronan was stunning. Her way to show emotion with the slightest change of her eyes, conveying determination or love or fear or sadness, took over the big screen. Cohen’s boyish charm made Tony wonderfully playful and sweet. Even his cheeks flushed at times when you knew Tony would have been nervous or shy. And that was utterly charming.
Additionally, the cinematography is captivating. The colors, the tones, the gentle breezes—all of these together were wonderful to use as the telling of this tale. Nothing here disappointed.
As I said when reflecting over the book, the emigration from Ireland leaves me sad, having heard from people during my visit there the impact it has on their country. But adding to that the ways our lives move and change as we find new homes, whether for love or job opportunities, well, yes, “home is home,” but sometimes you really should be somewhere for wholly different reasons.
I adore how the movie handled the ending of the story here, allowing on the screen too for the viewer to draw her own conclusions. Not everything must be spelled out. Sometimes it’s better to leave the viewer or reader with deeper thoughts.