3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Brooklyn

2015, John Crowley (The Goldfinch) -- download

There is a series of scifi novels that I read, the Wayfarers by Becky Chambers, that are not typical for the space opera genre. They are more optimistic than almost anything I have read, that along with the lovely world building being done, are just as much about people (aliens and humans) just being good to each other. They are quiet books, not lacking in conflicts, but the negative situations are dealt with by good people doing the right thing. I am not sure I am describing it in the best way, but they are just quieter books. 

Huh? Space Opera? In relation to a immigrant period piece movie? Well, compared to everything else I watched, this was just a quieter movie, not without the tense situations that a third movie act requires, but less directed by those situations, and more about These Good People. I loved that. It deserved its critical acclaim.

Eilis (pronounced, as in Billie; Saoirse Ronan, Hanna) lives in smalltown Ireland in the 1950s. She lives with her mother and her sister. She works a few hours on Sunday at a local general store run by a cranky old curmudgeon, but beyond that, doesn't have many prospects. A priest she knows, in NYC, arranges for her to emigrate to Brooklyn, NY, where she can find a life for herself. Its hard to leave all you know behind, to make it on your own, but it can be worth it. And that is what this movie is all about.

One would think the movie could be filled with conflict galore. Racial prejudice could abound, a small, country girl in The Big City could supply danger galore, familial connections could be strained to the breaking point. But nope, let's have none of that. The movie just quietly explores Eilis's arrival, after a lightly harrowing Atlantic crossing, in Brooklyn, setup in a boarding house and a department store job by the priest the family knew. There is a wee bit of homesickness but once she finds her footing, life begins to open up.

She meets Tony (Emory Cohen, The OA), a nice Italian boy, who is open to her wit, intelligence and independence. When he brings her home to meet his family, his little brother may be a bit of a twit, but that is solved by some quick ear twisting, and after that they are the most delightful, welcoming Italian family I have seen depicted in quite some time. Eilis begins to establish a life in America.

The third act does provide requisite conflict, and some tragedy, as her sister passes unexpectedly, and Eilis has to return home for the funeral, only to find a life there that was not available when she left. There is work to be had, now that she has learned some bookkeeping, and a young man showing his affections (Domhnall Gleeson, About Time) for her. Most movies would bank on this tension, serving infidelity and shouting outbursts in the conflict between staying in Ireland or returning to the US. But no, the movie shows her light conflict in once again leaving her mother, but inevitably choosing Tony and her new life, over what she could have had. She made the right decision and lives by it.

Its a pretty movie, a clean movie, with muted colours and tones, colourful but never brash. Even the characters she has conflict with are tempered by ... understanding. There are no bad guys, no foils. It is a light, but still weighty in its suggested experience, movie. In the end I was just satisfied with what I was presented.