‘Brooklyn’, the first film by predominantly theater director John Crowley, is based on the novel by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, with the screenplay adapted for the film medium by the renowned English writer Nick Hornby.
Crowley, with the help of cinematographer Yves Bélangera, created a visually pleasing set design, and the atmosphere in America and Ireland before the rock and roll revolution seems authentically portrayed enough not to irritate or appear overly artificial, as is often the case in such works. Unfortunately, the story of a girl who leaves her native Ireland for New York and then, due to tragic events, becomes emotionally and professionally torn between two homelands is merely an average melodrama. Although young Saoirse Ronan is excellent in the lead role, reserved on the outside while burning with feelings on the inside, the protagonists who are supposed to motivate her life decisions are uninteresting, lacking charisma, and thus the story itself and the potential choices of the heroine do not become particularly engaging. The intended emotional stakes should be high, but the director failed to lay the groundwork for that to be achieved.
