100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 55: The Immigrant

Director: James Gray

Genre: Drama/ Romance

Runtime: 120 minutes

Year: 2013

Starring: Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk, Angela Sarafyan, Glenn Fleshler, Gabriel Rush, Ilia Volok, Antoni Corone, Dylan Hartigan, DeeDee Luxe, Julian Murdoch, Francine Daveta, Anna Kuchma, John Mitchell, Gil O’Brien, Kevin Cannon, Francesca Murdoch

Description: The innocent immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard) is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician (Jeremy Renner) tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.

Review: A ship full of immigrants arrives in New York. The promise land. After the war in their homeland, all those people want is a bright future. Two Polish sisters, Ewa and Magda, dream about a new beginning. But when they arrive, Magda is put into quarantine because she looks sick. And Ewa is about to be send back to Poland.

A shady theater director, Bruno Weiss, saves her. He gives Ewa a job, in an American version of Moulin Rouge. And Bruno also gets her to sleep with men for money. A part of that money she uses to get her sick sister out. Her beauty attracts lots of men, but none of those feelings are sincere. But then she meets magician Emil, Bruno’s cousin and rival. He wants to genuinely help Ewa.

The décor and costumes are fantastic, it shows us America in the beginning of the 20th century. A yellow glow, a world ready to be discovered. This gives the movie a believable and credible feel. Sadly the rest is a bit more monotone. All men seem like barbarians and women have no say.

The cinematography is effective and conventional and the tone of the movie is very serious. The story is good, but towards the end, they wanted to wrap it up quickly. It leaves you a bit unsatisfied.

“The Immigrant” is an above average movie, because the acting is so good and I liked the story. But the wrap up of the film is not satisfying at all.

Rating: 3/ 5