Carter Sigl on The Immigrant

I am the first to admit that I enjoy works of fiction that are a bit darker and more serious than the average filmgoer. I’ll take Battlestar Galactica or Neon Genesis Evangelion over a sitcom or romantic comedy any day; however, even I will admit that angst can be overdone or poorly executed. I use the term “wangst” (a combination of whining and angst) to describe this, but there’s also another phrase to characterize works so dark that the audience actually stops caring about it: “darkness-induced audience apathy.” Basically, even though “true” art is usually angsty, it needs to be conveyed well to keep audiences from getting annoyed or bored. Works in recent years have been struggling with this as the pressure to make everything more edgy and violent continues. Fortunately, a few works manage to avert this; among them is James Gray’s The Immigrant.

The Immigrant tell the story of Polish woman, Ewa (played by French actress Marion Cotillard), who arrives at Ellis Island with her sister, Magda (Angela Sarafyan). Unfortunately, Magda is quarantined because of illness, and Ewa is rejected by the immigration authorities because of questionable conduct on the voyage to New York. Just when all seems lost and she is about to be deported, Ewa is found by a man named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) who offers to help her. However, this help has a cost, and soon Ewa is sucked into a life of prostitution in 1920s New York. Things get even more complicated when she meets Bruno’s estranged cousin Emil (Jeremy Renner), and they start to fall in love.

Let me preface this by saying that my earlier criticisms of pointless darkness in fiction does not mean The Immigrant is light or happy. It is a realistic period-piece that does not disguise the difficulty and hardship of the life of a poor immigrant. Rather, I like this film exactly because it is not pointlessly or overwhelmingly dark. Ewa goes through many trials and hardships, but all of them are meaningful and relevant. Nothing feels like it was tacked-on just to make the film bleaker. And as such, even though it can be bleak at times, this film never loses itself in the darkness; it maintains a sense of hope even in its darkest moments.

Add to the balance of darkness that the low-budget film surprisingly features some impressive acting chops. Marion Cotillard continues to appear seemingly anywhere she wants after the success of her first big American picture, Inception. Joaquin Phoenix continues the restoration of his acting career started with Her after some… interesting years (see I’m Still Here). And this (along with American Hustle) will hopefully prevent Jeremy Renner from being type casted as Hawkeye. In contrast to the big-name actors on display, the rest of the film is quite understated, with a focus on dialogue and the everyday and ordinary struggles of an immigrant. It is colored in a typical (but still good-looking) sepia tone to give this wonderful period piece a dated feel.

I admire this movie for being able to straddle the fine line between angst and hope in its story. It is something that many stories seem to have trouble with; they feel either inconsequential and meant to provide fluff entertainment or unceasingly dark and gritty in an ill-advised attempt to be relevant and edgy. They say that even in the darkest night there is always a light at the end of the tunnel; hopefully this film is that light for the modern movie industry.

Grade: B+