Ballarat Film Society – Brooklyn

Ireland/UK/Canada, 2015, 112 min. Directed by John Crowley
Nostalgic Irish Émigré Romance
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Receiving a standing ovation at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and faithfully adapted from the novel by Colm Toibin, Brooklyn tells the story of Eilis (Saoirse Ronan), a young woman from Enniscorthy, County Wexford who finds herself in the new world of New York. Although big city excitement, Italian charm and delicious food stir her love of life, weddings and funerals call her back to Ireland where another phase of her life begins. Set in the 1950s, Brooklyn harks back in style to the “women’s pictures” of the mid-20th century that were the backbone of popular cinema, when stars like Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck ruled the screen. It is largely a film about being torn between time, place and identity: in America Eilis is a woman with a future, yet in both worlds, she is filled with longing and a sense of displacement. Also starring the fabulous Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Domhnall Gleeson and Fiona Glascott you will be won over by its low-key charm.

This film is presented in association with the Ballarat Irish Association.