First Take: Brooklyn- possibly the most emotive piece of cinema I've seen for a very long time

SYPNOSIS- An Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.

As has been very well documented here on the blog, I never usually go for films like this, but when a friend of mine considered this film, I had to beat her to it (well, by about 30 seconds). Brooklyn is a very well shot and beautifully scripted film that tells a conventional story in a way we’ve never seen before.

A key part of my enjoyment of the film is John Crowley’s direction, as he manages to juggle both settings of the film and their details with ease, opting to work with cinematographer Yves Belanger in using wider shots for the scenes set in New York- a decision which really delivers narrative impact. Also, the performances are first class, with Saoirse Ronan putting in what I can only describe as one of the best performances of 2015, and with a supporting cast as good as Domnhall Gleeson, Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters, the entire cast just absolutely deliver in this film, and that might also be because of Nick Hornby’s script, as it just oozes with incredibly well written dialogue and very well developed characters, something which is a rarity in the modern film industry. Every aspect of the film is perfect, right down to the score from Michael Brook, as it’s simple and fits in very well with the 1950s setting of the film.

THE VERDICT

Brooklyn is a film that just brings out the classic nature of cinema, and with a career best performance from Saoirse Ronan, I can just see nothing but big things for this independent adaptation of Colm Toibin’s novel. We could be looking at a modern classic right here.

Rating- 5/5