Just one more to go guys. Brooklyn is a periodic drama about an immigrant from a small town in Ireland, Enniscorthy who moves to New York in search for a better life. It tells the story about typical immigrant struggles and how she connects with two different worlds.This is Saoirse Ronan's showcase film to show her acting chops and she does it brilliantly especially through her eyes. Her character, Ellis goes through a natural progression from a shy young girl first arriving in a new place to a more mature woman who herself becomes a mentor for another young immigrant later in the movie. In that sense, this movie can also be classified as a coming of age. She is ably supported by Emory Cohen, her Italian boyfriend from Brookyn who is also a complete contrast from Jim Farell in Ireland who also fancies Ellis as she struggles to choose a life between the two.
The director, John Crowley along with his cinematorgrapher shows nice transition between the small town in Ireland to the big landscapes of New York using the different shots to enhance the story that yet feels personal. His camera focuses on Ronan's eyes when in need of an emotional touch to her looking at the two different worlds when we require understanding her place with respect to the location.
The somewhat annoying part was the external factor influencing her decisions that takes away a bit from her strong character development and also makes the movie go a little long in my opinion. For example, Ellis's almost complete denial of her life in New York did take me out of the film for some time even though you understand the allure of home town.
Coming back to the positive side, the music (Michael Brook) and costume design (Odile Dicks-Mireaux) are excellent and enhances the nostalgia.
I personally pick Room over this one for the Oscars so far but this is still an excellent movie and you should see it.
Note: I haven't seen Spotlight yet that I hope I can do before the Academy Awards tomorrow. If not, Room is my choice.