Brooklyn (12A)

The live and loves of a 1950s Irish emigrant girl between her native Ireland and New York is brought to life on film, in ‘Brooklyn’, from Colm Toibin’s longlisted Booker prize novel of the same name.

The movie, writes David Flynn has certainly brought to life the small-town Ireland of the 1950s, in a very unflattering light.  People queuing up in a small grocer shop, and taking the sarcasm of proprietor, Miss Kelly, played splendidly by Brid Brennan really brings home the lack of choice of customers without the big superstores of today.

Enniscorthy is the town in question, which is beautifully photographed throughout, as indeed is the whole ‘Brooklyn’ film, most especially the Irish beach scene, and the exteriors of 1950s New York.

Eilis, played by Irish star, Saoirse Ronan, is a girl living at home with her widowed mother and older sister.  She works in the grocery shop, but her sister wants a better life for her, and arranges safe passage for Eilis to emigrate to Brooklyn.  Vivid images of the boat over to America showed the sea sicknesses suffered, and the loneliness of the trip.

The early scenes of America show the loneliness and despair of living and working as an emigrant. However happiness happens for Eilis when she meets a boyfriend, but then news of Ireland brings her home again, where she faces much different challenges than were there before she emigrated.

The set dressings of ‘Brooklyn’ are oh so cosy, and the many different sets, ie Eilis's mother’s kitchen, the US landlady’s dining room, and also her private sitting room are displayed in a very warm setting of furnishings and other props. Well done to whoever was involved in that.

Acting by Saoirse Ronan puts her as a cert for the BAFTA, and in strong contention for the Oscars and Globe Globe.  Emory Cohen played the role of Tony, Eilis’s New York love interest, and Domhnall Gleeson plays Jim Farrell from back home in Enniscorthy.  Gleeson had the edge in the acting stakes, but while he wasn’t on screen as long, his part was also better written than the Tony part.

Mention has to go to Julie Walters for her increased cameo role as the landlady. 

Intense is the best way to describe Saoirse Ronan’s performance.  It tied in with the storyline of Eilis in Wexford and New York. 

The movie is good for youngsters to see what communications was like in an era of not so long ago.  It felt odd; watching people waiting in priest’s offices to phone loved ones across the world, telling them about the deaths from home.  No mobile phones or internet then.

The colour of ‘Brooklyn’ the movie is very vivid, and it’s a rare window to 1950s Ireland, with a great production that is ahead of the storyline.