THE IMMIGRANT – The Review

Writer/director James Gray’s outstanding new drama THE IMMIGRANT takes audiences back to a time when America encouraged other countries to send us their tired, poor, and huddled masses. Gray’s fifth film once again takes place in the New York of his previous work (LITTLE ODESSA, THE YARDS, WE OWN THE NIGHT, and TWO LOVERS) but this time he’s presented a period piece that is one of the best movies of 2014 so far.

THE IMMIGRANT begins in 1921 on Ellis Island, where Polish sisters Ewa and Magda Cybulski (Marion Cotillard and Angela Sarafyan) wait in line to be processed for entry into the New York port. Magda is quarantined, suspected of having contracted tuberculosis and there is murky reference to some “low moral” behavior on Ewa’s part while aboard the ship, so she is threatened with immediate deportation. Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix), a nicely-dressed observer in a bowler hat, steps in and makes Ewa an offer she can’t refuse: if she comes and works for him, he’ll put a roof over her head and use his connections at Ellis Island to release Magda from the infirmary there. Ewa accepts his offer and at first dances in his burlesque show dressed ironically as Lady Liberty (some of the performers are topless) but it quickly becomes clear that Bruno’s bread and butter derives from his career as a pimp and she is soon selling her body. Things get complicated when Ewa meets Orlando the Magician (Jeremy Renner), Bruno’s kind cousin and rival, setting up the sort of love triangle that can only lead to tragedy.

One of the great strengths of the THE IMMIGRANT is the way it convincingly captures the period. Its operatic plot and characters (a magician, a pimp, a dance hall girl) are straight out of the silent films and there’s even a cameo by opera singer Enrico Caruso (Joseph Calleja). The film contains an undercurrent of melancholy that is moving but it proceeds at a slow, deliberate pace that gives the audience much to savor and admire, especially the trio of nuanced performances from Marion Cotillard, Joaquim Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner. Some may find Ewa too passive, lacking fire in her belly, but to me Ewa seemed real, doing what she has to do to survive while showing courage, determination and dignity. Cotillard speaks volumes with her expressive eyes and subtle expressions and her work here should generate Oscar buzz. Joaquin Phoenix, who’s worked with Gray three times before, shines in a tricky role, going from savior to predator and back convincingly. Jeremy Renner is also excellent, though his role is smaller and less showy. Gray, working with cinematographer Darius Khondji, presents a dreamy, sepia-tinted vision of Manhattan in the 1920s with murky brown tenements seen through dirty focus and sooty air. THE IMMIGRANT is a restrained, thoughtful drama that satisfies on every level and is highly recommended as a cure for the junky summer blockbuster blues (see my BLENDED review).

4 1/2 of 5 Stars

THE IMMIGRANT opens in St. Louis Friday, May 23rd at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Theater