James Gray’s THE IMMIGRANT is very much saturated in film
lore. It is a throwback to the Golden Age of Hollywood, where melodramatic
acting and grand settings were the centerpiece of the storytelling. Gray
literally takes us back in time to tell his story about an immigrant in the
early 1920’s by employing these old methods. That is the grand presentation of
THE IMMIGRANT, but there is more to storytelling than that.
Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and her sister Magda (Angela
Sarafyan) emigrate from their native Poland to New York in search of a new
life. When Magda is quarantined at Ellis Island for medical reasons, Ewa is
left with nowhere to go and is taken in by Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), who turns
her to a life of prostitution before she falls for a small-time magician named Orlando
(Jeremy Renner).
THE IMMIGRANT paints a very dismal picture for immigrants
who came to America in the early 1920’s. This was an age where people arrived
on a boat with all that they owned in one small bag, and were then easily
confused, tricked, herded like cattle and made to bunk-up in deplorable
conditions. Director James Gray goes through great lengths to push this point,
and Ewa is always right in the middle of it. As bad as the immigration process
is for Ewa, things get worse for her as she gets tricked into a life of
prostitution by Bruno. Her situation is hopeless, with each glimmer of light
she finds quickly extinguished. As if her story isn’t sad enough, things get
tricky when she falls for Orlando and she finds herself in the middle of a
tough choice; run away with Orlando to a life of prosperity or work for Bruno
in an effort to one day be reunited with her sister. THE IMMIGRANT ultimately
is all about family and the great lengths a person would go through to keep it
together.
Director James Gray and famed cinematographer Darius Khondji
have crafted a magnificent looking film. The movie looks like an old yellowed
photograph, and it makes for an immersive look which instantly transports the
viewer back to 1920. The setpieces are magnificent to look at; in particular
the old Ellis Island halls and rooms and New York City before the coming of the
skyscrapers. For as great as the film looks and embraces the older style of
filmmaking, Gray doesn’t seem to put any sort of personal touch on THE
IMMIGRANT; Gray is very much a cover-band here…not incredibly original but
worth every cent.
Acting is very good across the board. Joaquin Phoenix is
painted as the villain but ultimately is realized as not so much an evil man,
but a lost soul who can’t quite make things work right. He goes from a friendly
face to a hot-tempered bad guy in the blink of an eye, and Phoenix nails it
perfectly. Jeremy Renner is the perfect Yin to Phoenix’s Yang as the white
knight of the film looking to whisk Ewa away from all of the misery; he faces
off against Phoenix’s powerful acting and matches his every stride, and as a
stage-performer in the story has to pull off some impressive physical work as
well. The star of the film is obviously Marion Cotillard and she shoulders the
burden impressively. Her character is on an emotional cliffhanger throughout
the film, and there is never a second that goes by where she doesn’t make us
care for her.
The finale gives us a fair amount of emotional payoff and
wraps things up nice and tight. It is only then that we realize that THE
IMMIGRANT doesn’t really have a whole lot of plot to it, and is very much
focused on the Journey over the Destination. But by staying heavy on character and grand in
its presentation, THE IMMIGRANT is still a worthwhile voyage.
BOTTOM LINE: See it
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