“There’s a phrase back at home, when something is ‘diddly idle,’ " Saoirse Ronan recently told USA Today about her new film, “Brooklyn,” which has been winning acclaim everywhere it screens. "That’s when someone tries to do this stereotypical Irish film, where everyone’s a farmer and we’ve never seen the big city. We’ve done that and seen that and most of the time, it feels quite flat. So I was waiting for something like this to come along.”
Indeed, while “Brooklyn” is the tale of an Irish immigrant coming to America in the 1950s, it’s far more layered; it’s a deeply felt and bittersweet coming of age movie and love story that centers on the concept of homesickness and the notion that you cannot come home again. Here’s the official synopsis:
BROOKLYN tells the profoundly moving story of Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan), a young Irish immigrant navigating her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother’s home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her new vivacity is disrupted by her past, and she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
Directed by John Crowley, “Brooklyn” co-stars Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, with Jim Broadbent and Julie Walters and is looking like it’s going to be a big contender at these year’s Academy Awards (here’s our rave review). Below, watch three new clips from the film, a featurette, plus check out a Film Society of Lincoln Center The Close-Up podcast chat with Ronan, the director, screenwriter Nick Hornby, author Colm Tóibín and more.