The Immigrant (2013) Reviews

• Worth a view for Cotillard alone

  TheMarwood2014-06-16

  James Gray's beautifully shot 1920s New York period drama about the American dream gone to seed for a Polish woman, never stumbles into soap opera melodrama and the film is actually restrained considering the heaps of drama thrown at this woman. Marion Cotillard gives a wonderful performance as the immigrant who finds herself exploited in prostitution and the script wisely never makes her blind to the fact that things will be quickly heading south for her - she's a strong, smart woman who's hostage to a miserable situation. Jeremy Renner makes the most of his small but pivotal role and is the only character who seems to be having a good enough time and he injects some munch needed energy into this story. It's Phoenix, whose shyster character is the most complicated, that never comes across convincing. And while Phoenix is never for a moment boring to watch and for the most part doesn't over act, his acting decisions seem too thought out and theatrical. While Cotillard, Renner and the rest of the cast give performances that feel natural and embody these characters, it always feels like Phoenix is acting. Though locations are minimal and the few exterior shots are usually in a tunnel, the period detail is convincing and it's a nice too see a period film actually shot on film instead of digital. The Immigrant is a good showcase for Cotillard's talents and despite its flaws, definitely worth a watch.

• Talented cast largely wasted in melodrama that spins its wheels

  george.schmidt2014-06-15

  THE IMMIGRANT (2014) ** Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk. Disappointing and one-note period piece set in 1920s NYC where recent Polish émigré Cottilard (emoting up a storm) attempts to keep her rocky citizenship entry to America when her tubercular stricken sister is forced to remain on Ellis Island leaving her to no other alternative than entrusting her fate with shady Phoenix (overacting) as a bureaucrat cum pimp (make your own jokes here) who falls hard for her. Things get worse when his magician cousin (Renner, miscast) enters the picture forming an unlikely lover's triangle in a pot boiling melodrama that goes nowhere fast. Filmmaker James Gray (who co-wrote with Ric Menello) spins his wheels while the immaculate production design by Happy Massee and Darius Khondji's cinematography make up for plodding plotting. Would've been more interesting if the male leads switched roles but too little too late.

• An absolute masterclass in filmmaking & acting from all involved.

  peacecreep2014-04-18

  A complex, nuanced, deeply affecting tale of morality and survival in 1920's New York. This is American cinema at it's finest. Nothing is black/white or good/evil in James Gray's films, instead we see intensely emotional portraits of real people struggling for happiness. Again, religion plays a central role in his work and the message, at least to me, seems to be: there is no god, there is only you. Somehow Marion Cotillard keeps getting better and better and digging deeper into her characters. She is far and away the best actress out there and continues to work with the finest filmmakers. Her confession scene in this movie was stunning, beautiful- the best shot of the year. When the credits rolled i wasn't sure what i was feeling but i knew it was worthy of deep contemplation. Pure class, pure cinema.

• very beautiful movie with awesome performances!

  colettaberx2013-12-03

  What a beautiful story it was, a sad story of that girl Ewa, full of hope arriving in a strange country with the believe that she and her sister will be welcomed by their family! And the desperation and fear when bit by bit her hope and faith gets challenged by the bitterness of "the American dream", the bitterness of being immigrants without money or relatives, connections... Marion is amazing, she acts with her eyes, her face tells it all, she actually doesn't need words... She makes Ewa a very fragile looking "girl" but with an amazing survival-instinct .. Joacquin was charming, frightening, sad, and at the end pitiful..a very dark character, despicable and yet tragic... When Jeremy comes into the story, his character adds a lot of tension with great interaction with Joacquin and Marion; repressed emotions, boyish charm , impulsiveness combined with darkness. He was really really excellent, I loved his performance.. Gray did an awesome job by building up the story the way he did, with very beautiful images, images in those amazing soft yellow ocher colors , that show us a world of those who are "damned " with very rare beacons of light... The end scene, that ending shot , was so amazing, so beautiful ! And I loved the soundtrack.

• Cotillard, Phoenix and Renner in the land of opportunity.

  Ser_Stephen_Seaworth2014-03-25

  James Gray's latest tale of melancholic woe and spirits in emotional turmoil takes us back to when America was the land of opportunity for the tired, poor, huddled masses. The director's fifth feature is once again centered in New York, where past entries like "Little Odessa" and "Two Lovers" took place, but "The Immigrant" takes us back ninety years, putting a classical spin on his typical tale. Though it's lensed with a soft focus emphasis that lends the film a dreamlike patina, "The Immigrant" doesn't shy away from scratching below the scabbed surface of the American dream, even in the first scene. The Cybalska sisters, Ewa and Magda, are among the many crowded in line at Ellis Island in 1921, waiting to be welcomed into America (through the rigorous immigration process that shows that getting into the States was just as difficult then as it is now). The elder Ewa (Marion Cotillard, whose haunting beauty and old-school look made her the perfect casting) is a former Polish nurse who tries to advise her sickly younger sister to look well, but unfortunately, Magda is consumptive and kept in isolation from the other immigrants. Ewa herself is corralled when she is suspected of being "a woman of low morals," but before she can be deported, she is "rescued" by a man named Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix, also perfectly era-appropriate), who trawls the immigration station in hopes of picking up potential new additions to his troupe. For you see, Weiss runs a burlesque show made almost entirely of young foreign ladies who escaped the ravages of the Great War to seek their fortunes here. But he takes a special kindle to Ewa, who nevertheless finds herself disliking her new livelihood and employer. Despite his rather sad-sack pursuit of Ewa's affections, Bruno still pimps her out to rich patrons. It may seem very von Trier-esque, but indeed this was not uncommon in the Big Apple back then. Yet Ewa refuses to be downtrodden, even though she has convinced herself that she is a condemned woman (referenced in a crucial scene in a Catholic confessional). She even flees from Bruno's employ at one point, only to end up back where she started in Ellis Island . . . and who is waiting to bail her out by Weiss again? There is, however, a glimmer of hope for Ewa, in the form of a dashing Houdini-esque magician named Orlando. Played with relaxed charm and verve by Jeremy Renner, Orlando makes a perfect foil for Phoenix's Bruno. Orlando would traditionally be the hero of this story who gets the girl in the end, but James Gray is not interested in telling a traditional tale, even if he has taken many tropes from older works. Orlando's presence presents its own problems for Ewa, and the brewing conflict among the three central characters affects her most of all. And Gray certainly lucked out in casting Cotillard; the actress knows how to convey a soliloquy's worth of emotion with a single glance, and Cotillard's mournful, ethereal presence is used in full force here. Her dialogue is minimal, mainly reactionary save for her confessional, and yet she says more in this performance to express her situation than Cate Blanchett did in "Blue Jasmine" could with all of her broad rhapsodizing (no disrespect meant to Cate). Cotillard has played in this era before, and the fact that she has the throwback beauty that would've made her a star even in the silent days makes her presence in this film all the more soulful. (Also, full props on the French actress mastering the Polish accent, even whilst speaking the language!) But Cotillard doesn't have to do the heavy lifting alone. Joaquin Phoenix, who's worked with Gray three times before this, continues to show why he may be the premier actor of his generation. Bruno Weiss seems to be a self-loathing man who just can't bring himself to play the hero in the traditional sense, resorting only to the shady and seedy in order to get ahead in life. Phoenix does a fine job of showing that there is a great depth to Bruno, and we sympathize with the schmuck; he works well on the stage, but when the curtains are drawn, he's at sea. Jeremy Renner, who came very close to playing the role that Phoenix made instantly iconic in "The Master", has a fantastic presence and works very well against both Joaquin and Marion. One does hope that Gray works with him in the future, hopefully in a leading part to take full advantage of his talent. "The Immigrant" may rest mostly on its trinity of actors' shoulders, but it is a rich experience thanks to Gray's operatic direction, which feels like an homage to the days of both Chaplin and Coppola. I do find it to be an almost incomplete film, as I feel its ending felt more like a respite than a true completion. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I feel Gray could do so much more in this era, and tell more of this woman's story. But as it stands, I find "The Immigrant" to be a fine film with a great deal to say, and it acts as a beautiful showcase for Cotillard.