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The novel “Brooklyn” by Colm Tóibn, which was published in 2009, is one of those books that seems like a miracle. It is a book that reminds the reader how much power can reside in relatively unadorned language. The author was born in Ireland, and her book tells the story of a young woman named Eilis Lacey who comes from a working-class family in the year 1950. In spite of the fact that she is bright, open, and hardworking, she lives in a small town in Ireland where there are not many opportunities that are meaningful to her. Eilis is sponsored for a job in the title borough of the book by an Irish priest who is traveling in the United States. Tóibn tells in a beautiful way of her difficult crossing, her feelings of isolation and alienation in her new world, how she finds her own way and finds romance, and what happens after she is called back to her old home, away from the place where she has been working so hard to make good.
The narrative is straightforward and told in a low-key tone throughout. Tóibn, who just recently published a book honoring the work of the poet Elizabeth Bishop, possesses both the love of detail that is characteristic of novelists and the facility for linguistic magic by compression that is characteristic of poets. He is able to weigh those sentences with intimations that are truly metaphysical because he uses every word carefully, and every sentence is placed where it is for a very particular reason. Take for example the first sentence of the second section of the book, which reads as follows: “In January, Eilis felt the fierce sharp cold in the mornings as she went to work.” That is by no means a volley of verbal fireworks; one observes that Tóibn did not use a comma to separate the words “fierce” and “sharp,” and that contributes to the swiftness of the sentence; however, other than that, it seems to be well-wrought but ordinary enough. However, considering where it falls in the progression of the prose and what comes after the sentence, well, let’s just say that in that setting it conjures up a whole new level of unease. Before I saw the movie adaptation of “Brooklyn,” I had heard a lot of positive things about it, but before I saw it, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the movie would even attempt to bring this dimension to the screen. It gives me great pleasure to report that screenwriter Nick Hornby, who is also a notable novelist, and director John Crowley do, on occasion throughout the course of the incredible movie, aim to do that and succeed in doing so.
The director and screenwriter have been given the opportunity to work with an exceptional leading man. Saoirse Ronan brings the same level of vigilance, intelligence, and emotional vitality to the role of Eilis as the character herself does in real life. In this film, Ronan, who was born and raised in Ireland, has adopted a very Irish-girl face, if you’ll pardon the expression. She has an open expression, clear eyes, and a jawline that isn’t particularly strong but is nonetheless set with a certain kind of resolve. Although it is in no way prohibitive, it does make it abundantly clear that she will not put up with any nonsense on her watch.
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Eilis is, of course, also in a terrible position of vulnerability. Once she’s settled into a quasi-boarding house in a nicely brownstone-and-tree-rich neighborhood of the New York borough to which she’s sailed, she misses them terribly. In the movie, she has a cherished mother and older sister, but the adaptation leaves the older brothers in the novel out. The movie has a phenomenally good sense of place and time without being overt about it; Eilis lives in circumstances that are cozy, a little bit cattish, and a little bit stifling. Her introduction to the culture of New York City begins when she makes friends with a super-friendly Italian-American man named Tony (Emory Cohen, who is so wonderful here that I’m now inclined to blame his dreadful work in 2012’s also dreadful “The Place Beyond the Pines” entirely on that film’s director). The interiority of Tóibn’s book is broken up in the screenplay by the addition of some aptly invented bits, which leads to scenes that are both hilarious and heartwarming. The role of Tony’s smart-alecky but essentially sweet younger brother Frankie is expanded purposefully; the actor playing the “eight-going-on-eighteen” character, James DiGiacomo, is a certified scene-stealer. Eilis gets lessons in eating spaghetti from her roommates, and the role of Tony’s smart-alecky but essentially sweet younger brother Frankie is expanded purposefully.
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Suddenly, just as things are starting to heat up between Tony and Eilis, she is summoned back to her hometown to deal with a tragedy that has befallen her family. Eilis is thrown off balance by feelings of homesickness and guilt, in addition to the attentions of a kind and handsome local fellow named Jim Farrell (played by Domhnall Gleeson, who is a far cry from the feckless cyber-nerd he portrays in this year’s “Ex Machina”). Despite how much she has come to love her new life. Her inner conflict is portrayed with tremendous sensitivity and understatement, but the director and the actors deliver the final click of the plot’s tumblers with a significant amount of emotional force. It is a moment of quiet devastation that, like a lot of other things in the movie, has a resonance that goes well beyond its immediate circumstances.
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The film more closely resembles what Tennessee Williams refers to as a “memory play,” in contrast to the novel by Tóibn, which has a strong sense of being deeply rooted in the era in which it is set. I’m sure that the excursion-to-a-Coney-Island-day-at-the-beach scenes in the 1941 comedy “The Devil And Miss Jones” or the 1959 drama “Imitation of Life,” as Hollywoodized as they were, presented more realistic versions of such excursions than this movie does; I mean, Coney Island is/was a lot of things, but lyrical is not one of them. (A more colloquial term for the location that would be used in Brooklyn would be something along the lines of “zoo.”) However, from a creative standpoint, this decision works out well for the movie. When I saw this picture for the first time, I started crying about forty minutes into the viewing, and I didn’t really stop crying for the rest of the experience. If you will allow me to be completely and totally honest, I will admit that. I hasten to add that not all of those tears were tears of sadness.
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The feeling that even when the world is bestowing blessings upon us, it’s still at the bottom a sad place, and the key to an emotionally healthy existence involves some rooted acceptance of that, is something that this movie beautifully creates as a persistent and resonant impression throughout the entire film. At the conclusion of the film, Eilis has not only moved closer to a place where she can accept herself, but she also has made the decision to move forward with intention. People have commented on how understated and traditional “Brooklyn” is, to the point where it may appear to be a pleasant and harmless form of entertainment due to the reception it has received. Don’t let yourself be duped. The name “Brooklyn” is not without bite. However, it has a big heart and a romantic and beautiful appearance.Also, you must try to play this Brooklyn quiz.
For more personality quizzes check this: Spotlight Quiz.
