Finding a Way to An Authentic and Touching Film

It is easy to imagine the sentimental and maudlin way Colm Toibin's bestselling novel, “Brooklyn,” might have been brought to the screen. But director John Crowley and screenwriter Nick Hornby went, instead, for the kind of melodrama American filmmakers almost never make anymore. Sincerity, tenderness, romance and a gentle, but not overbearing, nostalgia for a bygone era's look, feel and customs give the film a wonderful authenticity of time, place and emotion.

Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) lives in a small Irish town after the end of World War II. Her sister (Fiona Glascott) arranges for an expatriate priest in Brooklyn, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), to invite her to the U.S. with a place to live and a job already waiting. Soon she is in Brooklyn — where the large community of expatriates rarely ventures into Manhattan — living in a rooming house, working in a fancy department store and taking night classes in bookkeeping.

All the anguish and fear of leaving home for an unknown, across-the-ocean place is conveyed in Ronan's still, luminous performance. Her face seems to have its own internal lighting, her looks and glances — she is a still actress, letting the camera record the subtle, almost imperceptible changes in her eyes and face — can convey contradictory emotions simultaneously. 

Eilis is intelligent and quick-witted, and as she settles into a routine she loosens up, even goes to church-sponsored weekend dances where she finds a boyfriend. Her world blossoms as she slowly falls in love with Tony, a young Italian plumber who likes Irish girls (played with puppy eyes and winning ease by Emory Cohen). Even at the department store her joy is noticeable to her glamorous boss, Miss Fortini (Jessica Paré of “Mad Men”). But we know this burnished world cannot go on — such is the nature of melodrama — and Eilis is soon back in Ireland, where another man tries to claim her heart (bashful Domhnall Gleeson). 

Eilis will make her choice, and it will break her heart a little, but it will be hers. She has become an independent woman in the U.S., influenced by other strong women like Fortini and her landlady (a delightful, sharp-tongued but playful Julie Walters). We have journeyed with Eilis as she discovers the possibilities and excitement of self-invention. We leave her a whole person, embarking on a future of her own, not one imposed on her.

Part of the pleasure of “Brooklyn” comes from Yves Belanger's lustrous cinematography and Francois Seguin's production design. The gorgeous authenticity never crosses the line into sentimentality, nor does the poignant, subtle score from Michael Brooks. This is a movie for adults who  recognize and relish real emotion delivered by an expert director, a prize-winning novelist-screenwriter and a cast and lead actress who could not be more perfect.

“Brooklyn” is playing widely. It is rated PG-13.