Last
year I attended Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival and I watched a
riveting dramatic movie titled TheDisappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them. As annual film festivals are known to
do, Cinéfest took place again this year and I went to go see another movie. It
looks like I’ve got a new tradition on my hands and that’s fine by me because
I’ve enjoyed myself both times. If nothing else, seeing a movie in this kind of
environment, where dramatic stories tend to dominate and international films
abound, I know to expect something different from your average Hollywood movie.
If I’m lucky, I’ll even get to see a movie with an actual story and that’s very
refreshing when you’re used to being bombarded by shit blowing up, showy yet
poorly crafted special effects, and more guns and ammo than Rambo knows what to
do with. I think I got lucky again this year when my wife and I went to go see Brooklyn.
Brooklyn, an Irish-American-Canadian production
directed by John Crowley, tells the story of Eilis Lacey (a confident Saoirse
Ronan in the leading role), an Irish immigrant during the early 1950s. The
movie, based on the novel of the same name by Irish author Colm Tóibín,
chronicles Ms. Lacey’s departure to America at the behest of her sister who
wishes a better life for her. During her stay in Brooklyn as well as her return
to her home country, Eilis establishes a new life for herself and finds
romantic attachment. The movie’s climax sees her making a decision between two
countries and two men.
