The Immigrant

The Immigrant

James Gray’s 2013 Palme d’Or nominee has one of the most breathtaking closing shots in modern film. It is so simple, yet framed and executed with the utmost artistry. However The Immigrant isn’t just a fine picture because of a mere sequence; this is true performance piece and the best of the mighty trio – Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner and Cotillard – is of course our lady in question who provides a gut-punching screen saga.

Playing Polish immigrant Eva Cybulska who has travelled to New York during the 20s in such of new life and freedom, she is cruelly lead into a false sense of security and quickly sold into cabaret and prostitution, however a kind-hearted magician (Renner) is keen to reunite her with her sister who is isolated at the border.

This is more of an experience than a movie; a swelling, rapturous weave that screens like the great all-American novel which was never penned. It’s as startlingly sumptuous as it is abhorrently grim thanks to Gray’s sublime direction and the expert set and costume designs. Cotillard here confirms just how excellent she is at her profession – she seamlessly slips from Polish to American English and back again, and never does it seem jarring. Her multilingual abilities enable her to adapt and truly become her characters; reliving their pasts and controlling their futures.