Hands down, my pick for best picture of 2015 must go to Brooklyn, starring Saoirse Ronan and directed by John Crowley. This film is remarkable in many ways. Firstly the acting, across the board, is superb. If you have ever wondered what the expression “the camera loves her” truly means, see this film and be entranced by the camera presence of Ronan. In every scene--even during long shots, even when her eyes are cast down--she makes an intimate connection with her audience—it’s quite amazing to see. Performances by supporting actors are similarly dazzling—not in some flashy way, but simply because they are “right on”.
It is hard to imagine a more perfect portrayal of an Irish priest than that given by Jim Broadbent as Fr. Flood. He is warm, understated, completely authentic. Very notable too is Julie Walters as the keeper of the Brooklyn boarding house; she is hilarious, hard-nosed, but soft on the inside—a secondary character who manages to be quite three-dimensional. There is no weak link among the cast.
 Brooklyn is a “small” story. There are no special effects, epic themes. No bullets fly; there are no explosions or murders, and most of its characters, if not downright nice, are at least sympathetic. The plot of Brooklyn contradicts the modern wisdom that only sex and violence sell. Essentially Brooklyn is simply a story about a young Irish immigrant seeking happiness in a new country. She must choose between a life in America and one in Ireland. That’s it. She must choose between two men. It’s a formula that worked for Jane Austen, so I suppose it has some staying power. And yet, saying all this, the writing is quite brilliant and never threatens to degenerate into a Harlequin romance. |
Brooklyn is among the sweetest of films I have seen in a good while. It is not on the scale of a DiCaprio film where the hero must conquer great forces of nature or evil mankind. It is about one fairly ordinary individual trying to figure things out. In this sense, it reminds me another beautiful movie of just a few years ago, Nebraska. In each case, I left the theatre in a happy daze, thinking, thanks to this little story, I myself had become a little more fully human.
There are many good films contending for the Best Picture prize at the Oscars this year. Room is very moving, an excellent piece of work. I also have a very soft spot for The Martian, which happily proves to me that good Science Fiction movies are not extinct quite yet. The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, I enjoyed these too, but none, on the sweetness scale, comes close to Brooklyn.
Maybe it`s worth making a new category—Sweetest Film of the Year.
There are many good films contending for the Best Picture prize at the Oscars this year. Room is very moving, an excellent piece of work. I also have a very soft spot for The Martian, which happily proves to me that good Science Fiction movies are not extinct quite yet. The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, I enjoyed these too, but none, on the sweetness scale, comes close to Brooklyn.
Maybe it`s worth making a new category—Sweetest Film of the Year.
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