Gray's film opens in New York City, 1921 as 2 sisters, Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and Magda (Angela Sarafyan) are arriving on Ellis Island to be processed, and hopefully begin their new life in the legendary United States of America. However, they are turned away; Magda has contracted Tuberculosis and is carried away into the infirmary where she will be left until she can be deported back to Poland (the sisters' home country). Ewa, on the other hand, has been accused of having "questionable morals" during her time on the boat ride (we later learn she refused a man's sexual advances) and we learn "America doesn't accept women of questionable morals into the country."
In these first few moments of the film, Gray lays the overall tone of the film. The grand wide shots and bleak, sepia filter of the cinematography accentuate Ewa's helplessness and loneliness, and it becomes very clear why he chose to shoot the infamous statue from the back; While she stands for freedom and the hope of a better life, it becomes clear through the course of the film that she literally has her back turned to Ewa's plight, and the rest of these powerless people.
Fortunately for Ewa, she meets Bruno (Jaoquin Phoenix) as she's in line awaiting deportation, who couldn't appear friendlier if he tried. After the rejection and judgmental looks she's gotten ever since her arrival, you can hardly blame Ewa for being so willing to trust this (seemingly) kind stranger, who offers to take her home with him and boasts connections to help get her sister out of Ellis Island. However, after only a day with Bruno, it becomes very clear that he's not as kind as he first appeared, in fact, he plans to exploit Ewa's helplessness; he traps her in an almost claustrophobic world of prostitution with nowhere to turn if she wants to help her dying sister.
Her glimmer of hope exists within Bruno's magician cousin, Orlando (Jeremy Renner) who becomes as every bit as infatuated with the mysteriously beautiful Ewa as her pimp. Where Bruno loves Ewa by exerting his control and fear over her, Orlando wants nothing more than to help her and have her run away with him. The latter part of the film finds the 2 violently clashing over who will "help" Ewa to find the happiness she so desperately seeks, each one fueled by their immense infatuation for her.
Ewa on the other hand, feels nothing for either man, instead, does nothing but exist solely to keep her sister alive. Cotillard's heartbreaking monologue in the pivotal "confession scene" (in which Ewa admits her many sins to a priest) finds her admitting that while she will never get to heaven, she must continue to sin for her sister. She (Cotillard) is what holds the overall unexciting film together, and makes it worth seeing. In her most fully realized performance since her Oscar winning portrayal of Edith Piaf, Cotillard runs the gamut of emotions sometimes without the aid of spoken words, proving that she is one of the best working actresses today.
The problem with The Immigrant, is that once the emotions come to ahead in the film's climax (the Confession scene) there's no action besides these 2 men fighting over Ewa, who couldn't be less interested in either one of them. Phoenix's characterization benefits from the actor's overall strength of playing despicable characters, but the clunky writing can't seem to dig deeper under the surface. It's clear Bruno has demons ailing him, but what are they? And as for Orlando, he's no more than a FOIL for Bruno, and not even Renner's handsome charm can fool the audience into thinking he's more than a plot convenience; The chemistry between Cotillard and Phoenix (and the story) is more compelling before his character enters. The first half slowly inches towards satisfying resolving action, but it's almost as if Gray turned off the heat mid way, never allowing the action to boil over and give us any sort of retribution.
But for all its flaws, Gray's superb direction and cinematographer Darius Khondji gorgeous camerawork give us a beautiful portrait of life in the 1920s. It's beautifully hollow, and melancholy, anchored completely by Cotillard's incredible performance, and while the plot gets lost in translation, Gray's message comes in loud and clear. The Immigrant is James Gray's love letter to the Prohibition era, a torn, tear stained letter filled with struggle, heartache and desperation; Gray holds a magnifying glass over the truth behind the legend of "The American Dream".
Oscar chances: The film premiered at last year's Cannes Film Festival to tepid reception (raves for Cotillard and "eh's" for the film itself). The gorgeous production design, costumes, and maybe even cinematography could find some traction... but the film's best bet resides in Marion Cotillard. With the power of Harvey Weinstein behind her, it's possible that after a string of post- Oscar misses (notably Nine, Rust and Bone) that Cotillard could find herself back at the Oscars for the first time since 2007's La Vie En Rose. But even that in itself is a long shot, given the impending arrival of Oscar bait performances on the way, not to mention the film hasn't been officially released yet and plans to release it are still unknown.
Grade: B-
No comments:
Post a Comment