Saturday, April 30, 2016

Saturday Night At The Movies: Brooklyn



Brooklyn is the story of a young Irish girl who leaves home for a new life in Brooklyn, New York when life seems to offer her nothing in her small Irish town.

Sick on the voyage across the ocean, terribly homesick as she struggles to adjust to life in a new country where she still seems to have nothing and noone, she meets a young man one night at a dance.

He's completely charming, and falls for her almost immediately.  Spending time with him and taking night classes at a local college give her confidence and a feeling of place.



A tragedy at home returns her to Ireland, where she doesn't reveal that she married her young man before leaving Brooklyn.

Everything she didn't have when she left home is suddenly presented to her.  With her bookkeeping certificate she has a temporary job.  She meets a young man she likes who has very good prospects.  She loves spending time with her friends and her mother.  Letters from America go unopened.

It seems she might leave the life she had in America behind to live this wonderful new life at home.

I haven't seen such a sweet movie in a very long time.  Saoirse Ronan is luminous in the role of Eilis Lacey.  The music, the costuming, the portrayal of life in the 40s, all just stunning.



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