MovieChat Forums > Brooklyn (2015) Discussion > SPOILERS - Enjoyed Until It Got Stupid

SPOILERS - Enjoyed Until It Got Stupid

posted 9 years ago by maggieameanderings
11 replies | jump to latest

I was enjoying this movie with its Irish immigrant experience in Brooklyn until Eilis went back to Ireland and it got impossibly stupid.

There was no evidence in the film that she was trying to keep the fact that she had a young man a secret. (Keep the marriage a secret, yes. The fact that she was in a relationship a secret, no.)

Yet........

1. She never wrote her mother about Tony
2. She wrote her sister about Tony but apparently told her sister not to mention it at all to her mother. So her sister never mentioned that Eilis was dating anyone to the mother.
3. She never wrote her best friend at all. And her best friend never wrote her. (Otherwise the wedding wouldn't have come as a surprise.)
4. When she gets to Ireland, Eilis cannot bring herself to mention to anyone that she has a young man back in the states. Not her mother. Not her best friend. Not even when her best friend sets her up on a date. And not to the date himself on the first date or on subsequent times they get together.

All of that is beyond my ability to suspend disbelief. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. And to hinge the Ireland trip on that bit of stupidity completely killed my enjoyment of the film from then on.

Was this particular bit of stupidity in the novel or was it something the filmmakers did?

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] monajaved 9 years ago

You could have said all that without sounding so hurt.

[–] KMPINTJ 9 years ago

I found a lot of implausibility throughout. Really, the story was simplistic, but what I liked about it was the art direction and "look" of the whole piece, and it really made be believe that this was a realistic depiction of immigrants to New York in that era.

Apparently she had become a US Citizen (evidenced by the Customs line when she returns); seems like that would have come up in her communications at some point, and the way she got to be a Citizen so quickly was by being married to a Citizen (Tony).

[–] Dagwoodie 9 years ago

But since they decided overnight to marry, and she was headed back to Ireland immediately, how could she have become a citizen in the little time in between?

[–] NotASpeckOfCereal 9 years ago

I think you're missing the point that her return trip was something of a test for her. She was tempted by the new prospects of home not being a dead-end anymore, a possible future she never thought she have there, which was the reason she went to America in the first place.

She was conflicted in her feelings, which is why she found it hard to write back to her husband and even not read his letters when they first came. She still felt guilt about Rose, feeling responsible for her staying home. And mum wasn't being any help, telling her she was now all alone with none of the people she hand previously counted on being with her (the guilt-trip that sent Eilis home).

So she was uncertain and yes mistaken at times, but she is also human and still young.

She was having these uncertainties before she returned home, and that trip gave her the final resolve to end the story on note of certainty. It was part of the story arc, not a 'stupid' thing at all.

Be sure to proof your posts to see if you any words out

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

Yes, the OP missed several different points about "Brooklyn". Her analysis is so flawed it makes me wonder if she even saw it.

What many overlook is that her upbringing was strict Irish Catholic, meaning her quick marriage right before she left Brooklyn would not be considered a valid marriage by the Church, at least not in the 1950s. It should be no surprise that she didn't tell her family and friends about it, she would have experienced swift rebuke.

If one really pays attention to the themes in the story it all makes sense and the whole story is well woven.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] mj7796-386-393455 9 years ago

She got married in city hall. It wouldn't be valid to the church, but is by law.

[–] TxMike 9 years ago

That is correct.

..*.. TxMike ..*..

[–] Savannah416 9 years ago

I like your response. I just wanted to add that I believe she felt a lot of guilt for leaving Ireland and not seeing her sister before she died. Stepping back onto Irish soil likely magnified those feelings, along with a sense of responsibility for taking care of her mother. If you recall, she had a very emotional overseas phone call with her mother after her sister's death in which her mother deeply lamented being alone in the world. I can't imagine hearing that and not feeling immensely torn once returning to her homeland.

[–] sherrisomerville 9 years ago

Thanks for posting. I found it irritating that she didn't at least mention there was someone else when her friend set her up with Jim. It was positively cruel not to say anything to Jim when it was obvious that he was beginning to fall for her. It just seemed out of character for the sensitive young woman we were getting to know.

[–] Savannah416 9 years ago

I felt most sorry for the guy she connected with upon her return to Ireland (sorry, I forgot his name). She lied by omission (of her marriage) and led the poor guy on (who had already had one failed engagement).