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TIFF 2015: Exhilarating Drama 'Brooklyn' Is the Quintessential Immigrant Tale

Anyone whose grandparents or great-grandparents (or great-great-grandparents, etc) immigrated from Europe in the early or mid-20th century will feel a special connection to Brooklyn, a swoon-inducing romantic drama that debuted with limited screenings yet major acclaim at Sundance and is racking up more fans this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film encapsulates the immigrant experience as a whole, and tells one helluva heartstring-tugging love story in the process.

The always magnetic Saoirse Ronan (Atonement, Hanna) finally gets to flex her natural Irish brogue as Eilis Lacey, a mild-mannered shop clerk in the quiet seaside County Wexford who, with the help of the church, gets the opportunity to live in the United States. Eilis leaves her mother and sister behind, and crosses the Atlantic on a lonely and seasickness-filled journey.

Her new life doesn’t get any easier back on land; she’s homesick and lonesome, and not compatible with the gossipy roomates she shares a Brooklyn brownstone with under the watchful eye of the whimsical Mrs. Kehoe (Julie Walters). She lives for letters from her sister, and slogs through days working behind the counter at a department store and nights studying bookkeeping.

Brooklyn gets off to a slow start, admittedly, but that all changes once Eilis meets Tony (the perfectly cast Emory Cohen), a sweet and charming Italian-American plumber who shows up at her church dances admitting that “he likes Irish girls.” The chemistry between Eilis and Tony (as well as Ronan and Cohen) is immediate, and their connection deep. They’re two lost souls with the chance to be soulmates.

It’s at this point where the heartsting-tugging, eye-watering, and full-on verklemptness kicks in, and amazingly, at least for this viewer, didn’t relent for the movie’s final hour. Their relationship isn’t just pure. Ronan and Cohen click so well that it feels akin to watch someone close in your life finally finding their match.

Of course, it wouldn’t make for a great movie if it were that easy, and some events we won’t spoil here send Eilis back to Ireland where she gets caught up with an equally as worthy suitor from her hometown, the quietly alluring Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson). Before, we know it, it’s a will-she-or-won’t-she scenario, and it only drives the drama to greater heights.

The film is directed by Irish director John Crowley, who gave us the great-if-underseen indies Intermission and Boy A. It’s his most personal work to date, and many stateside viewers should feel a deeply personal connection with it, especially those of us whose ancestors of different ethnicities in The Great Melting Pot that is America. Brooklyn is one of the best films we’ve seen about the immigration experience yet.

Brooklyn opens Nov. 6. Watch the trailer: