Film Muse: The Immigrant

Hi, lovelies. I know what you're going to say - it's been forever since I've written a peep on this blog. Life gets in the way sometimes. Summer left as quickly as it came, like it always does. But luckily we're having a bit of an Indian summer in Ohio, so I can cling onto these last few warm days for a while longer.

I've been trying to see new films as much as possible all summer, and The Immigrant is one I scratched off my list a couple of weeks ago. The story takes place in the very early 1920s in Ellis Island, New York. 

The gorgeous Marion Cotillard plays the role of Ewa, a young Polish immigrant who leaves her country with her sister Magda. Magda became ill on the voyage, and therefore is quarantined upon inspection, and Ewa is labeled as a "woman of questionable morals" after something which happened on the ship. As she prepares to be deported, Ewa is rescued by a well-dressed New Yorker named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), someone who claims he has connections in the city. 

It doesn't take long for Ewa to realize that Bruno is more of a predator than a savior. He makes his living as a pimp and runs local burlesque shows. Ewa is forced into prostitution and rejected by her aunt and uncle for her ruined reputation, whom she thought would care for she and her sister when she arrived in New York. 

Bruno develops some kind of twisted feelings for Ewa, but she instead falls for his cousin, Orlando (Jeremy Renner) - a magician. He promises that he, Ewa, and Magda will get away from Bruno and start a new life out West.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times writes: It tells the story of a woman who is denied both the consolations of tribe and her own autonomy, and thus presents a kind of photographic negative of the American dream. It is not what your great-grandmother told her children, even though it may have been a story she knew very well.

Although the film came out this year, it feels like an artifact from American History. It is dark, gritty, and at times it seems like everyone is an antagonist, but it is one that I definitely recommend.