The Immigrant, directed by James Gray, is a movie about 2 young women from Poland arriving in America. The women have been sent to the infamous Ellis island, looking for a better life after escaping their ravaged home in post–Great War Poland.
At the start of the film, both women are waiting to be let into America and Ewa’s sister Magda slips up a small cough, bringing attention from the officers to believe she is sick. While Magda is being examined, Ewa has been told that her relatives’ address is invalid and she cannot enter the USA without having someone to take care of her. Thus leaving no other choice but for the authorities to deport her. Luckily Bruno notices her and her fluency in English, bribes an officer to let Ewa go and takes her to his house. Knowing that Ewa had to make money for her sister to be released, Bruno lets her dance at the Bandits' Roost theatre and prostitutes her.
I would say that until that point, the historical part of the film ends and the film follows with romance and drama. There’s much more to cover on Ellis Island than just the corruption. The condition for those who were detained was inhumane. I believe that this part of history was touched too lightly.
In the following scenes, we are introduced to a new character called Emil. Ewa meets him at Ellis Island since she was slated for deportation again and like the first time, Bruno comes in to save her. Throughout the film, we learn that Bruno is romantically in love with Ewa and since this is a typical drama film, Emil is in love with her as well. This creates a plot between 2 men and a woman who are in a love triangle, although, Ewa loves neither of them. She justs wants her sister to be freed up and she doesn’t know any other way since Ewa’s uncle doesn’t help her.
If Gray actually would’ve wanted to create a historical movie, he should’ve left the drama out and showed us more of the actual history. Since this isn’t the case, I would have to comment on the drama itself. The protagonist, Ewa, has a two-dimensional personality as Rosalynn Try-Hane from Battle Royale With Cheese said. We only see some glimpse of strength from Ewa, but that isn’t enough to paint a bigger picture. Thus Ewa is seen as a victim only. Another writer, Donald Clarke, brings up the same point, thus making me believe that this was not only my opinion. We only have glimpses of every character’s personalities and we are being left out. Thus as Sarah Marrs from Cinemark says that it doesn’t really touch the audience. It more or less felt like it was a pilot for an upcoming series, not an actual movie.
The director could’ve adjusted to some personality changes to some of the characters throughout the movie and balanced the drama and history a tad bit better. All in all, the movie was watchable and the actors were great at portraying their roles. If you don’t have time to watch the whole film, definitely have a glimpse of the last shot, truly was magnificent.
Bibliography
Clarke, Donald. The Irish Times. 2013. Cannes review of The Immigrant. Available at https://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/screenwriter/2013/05/24/cannes-review-of-the-immigrant/, accessed 6 June 2020.Marrs, Sarah. Cinesnark. 2013. CIFF Review: The Immigrant. Available at https://cinesnark.com/2013/10/15/ciff-review-the-immigrant/, accessed 6 June 2020.
Try-Hane, Rosalynn. Battle Royale With Cheese. 2013. The Immigrant – Review. Available at https://battleroyalewithcheese.com/2013/12/the-immigrant-review/, accessed 6 June 2020.
