Brooklyn (film)

Brooklyn

Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Crowley
Produced by
Screenplay by Nick Hornby
Based on Brooklyn 
by Colm Tóibín
Starring
Music by Michael Brook
Cinematography Yves Bélanger
Edited by Jake Roberts
Production
company
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 26 January 2015 (2015-01-26) (Sundance)
  • 4 November 2015 (2015-11-04) (US)
Running time
 112 minutes[1]
Country
  • Canada
  • Ireland
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
Language English
Budget $11 million[2]
Box office $62 million[3]

Brooklyn is a 2015 Irish-British-Canadian drama directed by John Crowley and written by Nick Hornby, based on Colm Tóibín's novel of the same name. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Domhnall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters. Set in 1951 and 1952, the film tells the story of a young Irish woman's immigration to Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within them for her.

Brooklyn premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim.[4] It opened in limited release on 4 November 2015 in the United States and the UK on 6 November 2015.[5] The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Plot

In 1952, Eilis Lacey is a young woman from Enniscorthy, a small town in southeast Ireland, where she lives with her mother and sister Rose. She is unable to find employment, other than working weekends at a shop run by the spiteful Miss Kelly, and is not interested in the local young men. Her sister then writes to an Irish priest (Father Flood) in Brooklyn who arranged for her to go to the US to find a better future. She leaves but suffers from seasickness on the voyage and ends up being locked out of the toilet by her cabin neighbors. The woman in the bunk below her, an experienced traveler, helps her, giving her advice and support for Eilis's entry to the US and life in Brooklyn, the new home to many Irish immigrants.

Eilis lives at an Irish boarding house where she dines each night with the landlady and her fellow residents, all young women. She also has a job at a department store but is shy and quiet when interacting with customers, earning the gentle scolding of Miss Fortini, her supervisor. Her letters from her sister, back in Ireland, give her homesickness. She is visited by Father Flood, the priest who arranged for her job and accommodation, and he tries to help by enrolling her in bookkeeping classes. At a dance she meets Tony, from an Italian family, who is quickly interested in her and becomes her boyfriend. With these developments, Eilis begins to feel more comfortable in New York, although she is slow to return Tony's declaration of love.

Father Flood informs Eilis that Rose has died suddenly of an undisclosed illness. After a trans-Atlantic phone call with her mother reveals that she is struggling to cope, Eilis decides to return home for a visit. Tony insists that if she is leaving they must get secretly married first. They enter a civil marriage without telling family and friends. Back in Ireland, everybody seems to be conspiring to keep Eilis from returning to Brooklyn. Her best friend is getting married a week after her scheduled return journey, and her mother has already accepted the invitation on her behalf. She is set up on dates with eligible bachelor Jim, who is about to inherit property. She takes her sister's place as a bookkeeper on an emergency basis. Eilis starts to feel that she now has the future in Ireland that did not exist when she left and stops opening the letters she receives from Tony.

Miss Kelly, her former employer, meets with Eilis and says she has learned that she is already married. Eilis is reminded of what life was like in a small-town, a life she had escaped. She informs her mother of her marriage and that she is leaving for Brooklyn the next day. On the crossing, she plays the role of the experienced traveller, offering words of guidance to a first-time émigrée. The film ends with Eilis and Tony reuniting and happily embracing.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began on 1 April 2014 in Ireland, and was shot for three weeks at different locations including Enniscorthy, Wexford, and Dublin.[7][8][9] On the first day of shooting, Ronan was spotted in period costume on the set in Enniscorthy.[10][11] After finishing production in Ireland, it then moved to Montreal, Quebec for a four weeks further.[8] Two days were spent shooting in New York at Coney Island.[12]

Release

Brooklyn premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 26 January 2015. After it premiered, a bidding war began between The Weinstein Company, Focus Features and Fox Searchlight Pictures. Fox Searchlight Pictures prevailed, acquiring the distribution rights for U.S. and other multiple territories for $9 million. The deal was one of the biggest to ever come out of Sundance.[4] It was selected to be shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[13] The film opened in a limited release in the United States on 4 November 2015, before opening in a wide release on 25 November 2015.[14]

Reception

Critical response

Brooklyn received a rapturous standing ovation at its Sundance Film Festival premiere.[15] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 222 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Brooklyn buttresses outstanding performances from Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen with a rich period drama that tugs at the heartstrings as deftly as it satisfies the mind."[16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17] On its Oscar nominations, one critic said that "It deserves its place."[18]

Box office

As of 13 April 2016, Brooklyn has grossed $38.2 million in North America and $21.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $60 million, against a budget of $11 million.[19][20] As of early February 2016, Brooklyn's box office gross in Canada alone exceeded C$4-million, giving it the highest cumulative domestic gross of any Canadian film released in 2015.[21][22] The film had the biggest opening of any Irish film in Ireland since 1996 earning over $650,000 from 87 theaters, making it the strongest drama debut since Michael Collins opened to $662,000 in November 1996.[23]

Accolades

Brooklyn has received many nominations for industry and critics awards including three nominations for the 88th Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress. Ronan's performance in particular was praised and has garnered her Oscar, BAFTA,[24] Critics' Choice,[25] Golden Globe,[26] and SAG nominations for best actress.[27] She has also won the BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film.[28] Julie Walters was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs.[24] The film won the Audience Favorite Gold Award in World Cinema at the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Rogers People's Choice Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Virginia Film Festival. Cohen was named Breakthrough Performer at the Hamptons International Film Festival.[29] It won 2 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Musical Score and 2 18th Quebec Cinema Awards (formerly known as the Prix Jutra), for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction.

Brooklyn was also named one of the best films of 2015, featuring on over 120 Top 10 Critics' Lists.[30] It is ranked both fourth on Rotten Tomatoes and fifth on Metacritic's best reviewed films of 2015.[31][32][33]

Television spin-off

The BBC is working on a new drama which will revolve around Mrs Keogh played by Julie Walters and a group of American, English and Irish girls in her care at her boarding house. Saoirse Ronan is not expected to return. Finola Dwyer confirmed the plans, and had suggested the idea to Colm Tóibín, the author of original novel, before there was a first draft of the film.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "BROOKLYN (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 24 August 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "With indie films such as 'Brooklyn' and 'Room,' the creativity often begins with the financing". Los Angeles Times. December 29, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Brooklyn (2015)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Kit, Borys (27 January 2015). "Sundance: Fox Searchlight Nabs 'Brooklyn'". Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "US date set for Saoirse Ronan-starring Brooklyn". Rte.ie. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  6. ↑ Mekado Murphy (February 8, 2016). "Bluffer’s Guide to the Oscars: Best Actress". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  7. ↑ Rosser, Michael (1 April 2014). "Brooklyn begins shoot with Saoirse Ronan". screendaily.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  8. 1 2 McNary, Dave (1 April 2014). "Saoirse Ronan Heads to Ireland for John Crowley’s ‘Brooklyn’". variety.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Kemp, Stuart (1 April 2014). "Saoirse Ronan to Star in 'Brooklyn'". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Flint, Hanna (1 April 2014). "Saoirse Ronan arrives in period costume onto the Irish set of her new movie based on Colm Toibin's acclaimed novel". dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  11. ↑ Blake Knox, Kirsty (1 April 2014). "Saoirse Ronan keeps warm with water bottle on movie set". independent.ie. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (8 November 2015). "Interview : Director John Crowley". AwardsDaily. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  13. ↑ "Toronto to open with 'Demolition'; world premieres for 'Trumbo', 'The Program'". ScreenDaily. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  14. ↑ "Brooklyn". BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
  15. ↑ Setoodeh, Ramin (30 January 2015). "Sundance Ignites 2016 Oscar Race with ‘Brooklyn,’ ‘Grandma’ and More". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  16. ↑ "Brooklyn (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Brooklyn reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  18. ↑ Byrnes, Paul (13 February 2016). "Brooklyn: An Irish twist on the agonies and ecstasy of a migrant's story". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  19. ↑ "Brooklyn (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Review: 'Brooklyn,' Starring Saoirse Ronan, Is A Masterpiece". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  21. ↑ Barry Hertz (4 February 2016). "A Canadian box-office battle between Snowtime! and Brooklyn". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  22. ↑ "Brooklyn Tops Canadian Box Office". Northernstars. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  23. ↑ Nancy Tartaglione (November 9, 2015). "Irish Box Office Smiles On ‘Brooklyn’; Best Local Drama Debut In 19 Years – Update". Deadline.com. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  24. 1 2 Nancy Tartaglione. "BAFTA Nominations: ‘Bridge Of Spies’, ‘Carol’ Lead – Full List - Deadline". Deadline.
  25. ↑ Gray, Tim (14 December 2015). "Critics’ Choice Award Nominations: Complete List". Variety. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  26. ↑ Lang, Brent (10 December 2015). "'Carol,' Netflix Lead Golden Globes Nomination". Variety. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  27. ↑ "Screen Actors Guild Awards: Dame Helen Mirren and Idris Elba lead British charge". BBC News. 9 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  28. ↑ Lee, Benjamin (7 December 2015). "Ex Machina triumphs at British independent film awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  29. ↑ "Irish film Brooklyn continues awards run in US". RTÉ. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  30. ↑ "Film Critic Top 10 Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  31. ↑ "Best of 2015: Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Top 100 Movies of 2015". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  33. ↑ Greene, Steve (14 December 2015). "Critics Pick the Best Films and Performances of 2015 in Indiewire's Annual Poll". Indiewire. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  34. ↑ Han, Angie (5 February 2016). "'Brooklyn' Is Getting a TV Spinoff; Julie Walters to Return". Slash Film. Retrieved 5 February 2016.

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