The Immigrant (2013) User Reviews (100)

A Sympathetic Portrait Guided by a Strong Cast and Period Details

[Pycs · 8/10 · 19 July 2014]

The opening shot of James Gray's "The Immigrant" is, rather befittingly, the Statue of Liberty, circa 1921. For Lady Liberty, herself of foreign origins, exemplifies the ideals and ambitions millions upon millions of immigrants have sacrificed and labored for in the hopes of one day achieving. The camera then pulls back slowly and the statue disappears into the background, for this is no grand tale of success or prosperity, but of the hardships and struggles associated with the vast majority of immigration experiences.

The title character refers to Ewa Cybulska (Marion Cotillard), a Polish immigrant freshly off the boat at Ellis Island alongside her sister , Magda (Angela Sarafyan). The sisters are hastily separated when Magda is unable to conceal her illness (later discovered to be tuberculosis), and is promptly quarantined. Faced with deportation, Ewa is recruited by Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix), a shady theater promoter, who is able to furnish her with a bed and employment.

Ewa finds her situation anything but ideal, and it is not long before her body becomes her greatest commodity. Feeling exploited by Bruno, she manages to locate her aunt and uncle, earlier immigrants living in the city for some time now. This effort proves futile, and she is once again resigned to operate under Bruno.

Further complications ensue when Emil (Jeremy Renner), a magician and Bruno's cousin, enters the picture and is instantly enraptured by Ewa. Partly seeing it as an infringement of his turf and partly out of envy, Bruno reacts hostilely towards Emil's advances towards Ewa. Ewa, whose justification for her prostitution is a hopeful reunion with her sister, is torn between the two men. Not necessarily out of love, for something so trivial surely has no use in the world of struggles Ewa finds herself in, but she is divided as to whom can properly benefit her, as she has reason to doubt both men's claims.

Showcasing a handsome reproduction of early 1920's New York, Gray's film is a very sympathetic portrait of the burden of immigrant life. As depicted in the film, the processing system dehumanized the migrants, frighteningly close to the same degree as the slave processing in "Goodbye Uncle Tom." If one was lucky enough to make it through customs and into the country, "The Immigrant" pulls no punches in representing the strife of the urban environment at a time where work came cheap and arduous, as was human life.

As one would come to expect by now, Marion Cotillard, who has been nothing less than terrific in various foreign and domestic films in the last couple years, is well cast as Ewa. Able to channel the character's sympathy without falling victim to excessive sentiment, Cotillard's Ewa is a woman who has convinced herself to make the necessary sacrifices, yet cannot help but to bear the guilt. Though Cotillard's Ewa may doubt her methods, her zeal is never up for question. She is absolutely determined to see her sister again from whatever cash she can scrap together, and the end will surely justify the means.

Also notable is Phoenix, who continues his recent career renaissance following 2012's "The Master" and 2013's "Her." Bruno, as played by Phoenix, is undoubtedly taking advantage of Ewa and her situation, yet there is a sense of gentleness and care that Phoenix is able to bring to the character. Under Bruno's wing, Ewa may be compromised, but she is cared for and secure. Bruno never physically abuses her or coerces her into something she isn't prepared for, as her path into prostitution was clearly forged given the situation, whether she came across Bruno or not. Thus Bruno's recruitment was both a blessing and a curse for Ewa. Great credit should go to screenwriters Gray and Ric Menello and actor Phoenix for carving a well-structured and nuanced character out of what could have easily fallen into the ranks of cliché.

As her character states early on, Ewa's only ambition in coming to America is "to be happy," yet she finds her conditions to be anything but. Thus "The Immigrant" is a testament to the trials and tribulations that countless individuals and families have endeavored (and those who continue to do so) at the aspiration of forging a better lives for themselves.

Worth a view for Cotillard alone

[TheMarwood · 6/10 · 16 June 2014]

James Gray's beautifully shot 1920s New York period drama about the American dream gone to seed for a Polish woman, never stumbles into soap opera melodrama and the film is actually restrained considering the heaps of drama thrown at this woman. Marion Cotillard gives a wonderful performance as the immigrant who finds herself exploited in prostitution and the script wisely never makes her blind to the fact that things will be quickly heading south for her - she's a strong, smart woman who's hostage to a miserable situation. Jeremy Renner makes the most of his small but pivotal role and is the only character who seems to be having a good enough time and he injects some munch needed energy into this story. It's Phoenix, whose shyster character is the most complicated, that never comes across convincing. And while Phoenix is never for a moment boring to watch and for the most part doesn't over act, his acting decisions seem too thought out and theatrical. While Cotillard, Renner and the rest of the cast give performances that feel natural and embody these characters, it always feels like Phoenix is acting. Though locations are minimal and the few exterior shots are usually in a tunnel, the period detail is convincing and it's a nice too see a period film actually shot on film instead of digital. The Immigrant is a good showcase for Cotillard's talents and despite its flaws, definitely worth a watch.

very beautiful movie with awesome performances!

[colettaberx · 8/10 · 3 December 2013]

What a beautiful story it was, a sad story of that girl Ewa, full of hope arriving in a strange country with the believe that she and her sister will be welcomed by their family! And the desperation and fear when bit by bit her hope and faith gets challenged by the bitterness of "the American dream", the bitterness of being immigrants without money or relatives, connections... Marion is amazing, she acts with her eyes, her face tells it all, she actually doesn't need words... She makes Ewa a very fragile looking "girl" but with an amazing survival-instinct .. Joacquin was charming, frightening, sad, and at the end pitiful..a very dark character, despicable and yet tragic... When Jeremy comes into the story, his character adds a lot of tension with great interaction with Joacquin and Marion; repressed emotions, boyish charm , impulsiveness combined with darkness. He was really really excellent, I loved his performance.. Gray did an awesome job by building up the story the way he did, with very beautiful images, images in those amazing soft yellow ocher colors , that show us a world of those who are "damned " with very rare beacons of light... The end scene, that ending shot , was so amazing, so beautiful ! And I loved the soundtrack.

Pretty restrained

[Red_Identity · 1 April 2014]

When I read the summary for this film, I just expected a sweeping, soaring melodrama. Oh, it's a melodrama, no doubt about it, but surprisingly, it's a pretty restrained effort. I appreciate the fact that it really wasn't overblown in its intentions, in its music, in its acting. The three main actors are all pretty good, Cotillard especially. By now, we know the talent this woman possesses and she's someone that can say so much with just a single facial expression. This is one of her very best performances, and it should, in no way, be discounted. I hope she finally gets that long-due second Oscar nomination. All in all, recommended.

Dream a Different American Dream

[sol- · 7/10 · 13 January 2016]

Separated from her ill sister and facing deportation, a Polish immigrant is taken in by a burlesque show operator who may or may not have her best intentions at heart in this drama set in 1920s New York. The film holds no bars in depicting the difficulties of immigration as our disillusioned protagonist, played by Marion Cotillard, comes to accept an existence very different to what she once imagined. Cotillard's performance is rather multi-layered: simultaneously vulnerable and ruthless (resorting to stealing what she can), and simultaneously accepting of her fate and focused on achieving more. Joaquin Phoenix is also superb as the burlesque man with a breakdown scene near the end in which he finally drops all pretenses to reveal a beating human heart. Their situation is also complicated by Cotillard encountering Phoenix's estranged cousin, played by Jeremy Renner, and a love triangle develops that never quite clicks since we are unsure until the end whether Phoenix really loves her, and as it is never clear whether Renner really loves her either or just wants to make Phoenix jealous. Certainly, an animosity exists between the two cousins that the film does not explore in as much depth as it perhaps could have. Still, what the film does do well it does very, very well. It is quite rare to find a film with such a graphic insight into the harsh actual reality of the American Dream and Cotillard's character is very much one-of-a-kind. Torn between would-be saviours and false promises, she never once gives up hope, even if her own American Dream is decidedly different by the end.

Talented cast largely wasted in melodrama that spins its wheels

[george.schmidt · 6/10 · 15 June 2014]

THE IMMIGRANT (2014) ** Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Dagmara Dominczyk. Disappointing and one-note period piece set in 1920s NYC where recent Polish émigré Cottilard (emoting up a storm) attempts to keep her rocky citizenship entry to America when her tubercular stricken sister is forced to remain on Ellis Island leaving her to no other alternative than entrusting her fate with shady Phoenix (overacting) as a bureaucrat cum pimp (make your own jokes here) who falls hard for her. Things get worse when his magician cousin (Renner, miscast) enters the picture forming an unlikely lover's triangle in a pot boiling melodrama that goes nowhere fast. Filmmaker James Gray (who co-wrote with Ric Menello) spins his wheels while the immaculate production design by Happy Massee and Darius Khondji's cinematography make up for plodding plotting. Would've been more interesting if the male leads switched roles but too little too late.

beautiful but slow

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 1 July 2015]

It's 1921. Polish sisters Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and Magda Cybulska arrive in NYC. Magda is quarantined and Ewa is accused of having low morals threatened with deportation. She's desperate to stay and find her sister. Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix) manages the burlesque Bandits' Roost. He zeros in on the vulnerable Ewa and eventually pushes her into prostitution. She tracks down her relatives but her uncle gets the police and she's sent back to Ellis Island slated for deportation. There she sees a performance by Orlando the magician (Jeremy Renner) who turns out to be Bruno's cousin Emil.

This is a beautiful looking film. James Gray is able to achieve that much. The actors are first rate and Marion Cotillard is a true standout here. I love that her character isn't a simple innocent. She's smart enough not to trust Bruno right from the start. I don't like Bruno's character as much. He's a damaged person but the movie seems intent to create sympathy for him. Joaquin has a lovely vulnerability but he needs to be a tougher villain. Overall, this movie is simply too slow although it is quite beautiful.

'The Immigrant' is definitely worth watching

[joshua-303-92778 · 7/10 · 28 March 2014]

I just finished this movie and wanted to leave a review, while the credits are still rolling.

I'm one of the harsher critics on IMDb, but I enjoyed The Immigrant. This is a dark film about Prohibition-era New York, and the trials of Eastern European immigrants who have come here in the hopes of a better life.

Like most good films, good and evil are blurred. We aren't asked to judge the characters, but rather to observe them as they are.

The plot is solid and the performances are impressive, particularly Marion Cotillard and Juaquin Phoenix.

Cotillard, Phoenix and Renner in the land of opportunity.

[Ser_Stephen_Seaworth · 10/10 · 25 March 2014]

James Gray's latest tale of melancholic woe and spirits in emotional turmoil takes us back to when America was the land of opportunity for the tired, poor, huddled masses. The director's fifth feature is once again centered in New York, where past entries like "Little Odessa" and "Two Lovers" took place, but "The Immigrant" takes us back ninety years, putting a classical spin on his typical tale.

Though it's lensed with a soft focus emphasis that lends the film a dreamlike patina, "The Immigrant" doesn't shy away from scratching below the scabbed surface of the American dream, even in the first scene. The Cybalska sisters, Ewa and Magda, are among the many crowded in line at Ellis Island in 1921, waiting to be welcomed into America (through the rigorous immigration process that shows that getting into the States was just as difficult then as it is now). The elder Ewa (Marion Cotillard, whose haunting beauty and old-school look made her the perfect casting) is a former Polish nurse who tries to advise her sickly younger sister to look well, but unfortunately, Magda is consumptive and kept in isolation from the other immigrants. Ewa herself is corralled when she is suspected of being "a woman of low morals," but before she can be deported, she is "rescued" by a man named Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix, also perfectly era-appropriate), who trawls the immigration station in hopes of picking up potential new additions to his troupe.

For you see, Weiss runs a burlesque show made almost entirely of young foreign ladies who escaped the ravages of the Great War to seek their fortunes here. But he takes a special kindle to Ewa, who nevertheless finds herself disliking her new livelihood and employer. Despite his rather sad-sack pursuit of Ewa's affections, Bruno still pimps her out to rich patrons. It may seem very von Trier-esque, but indeed this was not uncommon in the Big Apple back then. Yet Ewa refuses to be downtrodden, even though she has convinced herself that she is a condemned woman (referenced in a crucial scene in a Catholic confessional). She even flees from Bruno's employ at one point, only to end up back where she started in Ellis Island . . . and who is waiting to bail her out by Weiss again?

There is, however, a glimmer of hope for Ewa, in the form of a dashing Houdini-esque magician named Orlando. Played with relaxed charm and verve by Jeremy Renner, Orlando makes a perfect foil for Phoenix's Bruno. Orlando would traditionally be the hero of this story who gets the girl in the end, but James Gray is not interested in telling a traditional tale, even if he has taken many tropes from older works. Orlando's presence presents its own problems for Ewa, and the brewing conflict among the three central characters affects her most of all.

And Gray certainly lucked out in casting Cotillard; the actress knows how to convey a soliloquy's worth of emotion with a single glance, and Cotillard's mournful, ethereal presence is used in full force here. Her dialogue is minimal, mainly reactionary save for her confessional, and yet she says more in this performance to express her situation than Cate Blanchett did in "Blue Jasmine" could with all of her broad rhapsodizing (no disrespect meant to Cate). Cotillard has played in this era before, and the fact that she has the throwback beauty that would've made her a star even in the silent days makes her presence in this film all the more soulful. (Also, full props on the French actress mastering the Polish accent, even whilst speaking the language!)

But Cotillard doesn't have to do the heavy lifting alone. Joaquin Phoenix, who's worked with Gray three times before this, continues to show why he may be the premier actor of his generation. Bruno Weiss seems to be a self-loathing man who just can't bring himself to play the hero in the traditional sense, resorting only to the shady and seedy in order to get ahead in life. Phoenix does a fine job of showing that there is a great depth to Bruno, and we sympathize with the schmuck; he works well on the stage, but when the curtains are drawn, he's at sea. Jeremy Renner, who came very close to playing the role that Phoenix made instantly iconic in "The Master", has a fantastic presence and works very well against both Joaquin and Marion. One does hope that Gray works with him in the future, hopefully in a leading part to take full advantage of his talent.

"The Immigrant" may rest mostly on its trinity of actors' shoulders, but it is a rich experience thanks to Gray's operatic direction, which feels like an homage to the days of both Chaplin and Coppola. I do find it to be an almost incomplete film, as I feel its ending felt more like a respite than a true completion. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I feel Gray could do so much more in this era, and tell more of this woman's story. But as it stands, I find "The Immigrant" to be a fine film with a great deal to say, and it acts as a beautiful showcase for Cotillard.

A melodrama built upon clichés whose good performances can't save from boredom

[maria-ricci-1983 · 6/10 · 14 February 2016]

There is nothing new or surprising in the story: a poor young immigrant girl who is fresh-off-the-boat taken advantage of, and is sexually exploited by another survivor (just one step above in the food chain ladder) in the golden age of immigration in America.

The acting is good, but the script is quite poor and the direction merely goes through the motions of formal correctness without adding depth, or a true reflection, or a new insight on the matter.

The characters lack in complexity and reality; the revealing of social injustice is more a "homework making" of a formal outrage than a truly insightful exploration of human miseries.

It is an average film with minor hits and major misses which, in my opinion, will not make its way through history, even for easy-to-please audiences as the lovers of Hollywood movies.

Mediocre in all depts: script, direction, acting, photography

[zumbaototal · 3/10 · 30 May 2020]

A lousy melodramatic tear-jerker serialized fiction for XIXth century magazines, served by a heavy handed sepia photography which reinforces the outdated feel, without any magic. Marion Cotillard keeps whining, which points at flawed directions to actors from Gray. She's dull, gloomy and annoying throughout. The best bits are the stage shows.

An absolute masterclass in filmmaking & acting from all involved.

[peacecreep · 10/10 · 18 April 2014]

A complex, nuanced, deeply affecting tale of morality and survival in 1920's New York. This is American cinema at it's finest. Nothing is black/white or good/evil in James Gray's films, instead we see intensely emotional portraits of real people struggling for happiness. Again, religion plays a central role in his work and the message, at least to me, seems to be: there is no god, there is only you.

Somehow Marion Cotillard keeps getting better and better and digging deeper into her characters. She is far and away the best actress out there and continues to work with the finest filmmakers. Her confession scene in this movie was stunning, beautiful- the best shot of the year. When the credits rolled i wasn't sure what i was feeling but i knew it was worthy of deep contemplation. Pure class, pure cinema.

A flat ride

[Imdbidia · 6/10 · 25 April 2017]

The Immigrant has all the ingredients to be a blockbuster and an excellent movie: great actors, fantastic production, great atmosphere, historical settings, and a touching story about the harshness of immigration in the USA after the WW1 without sugar-coated BS. Yet, for whatever reason, the movie felt flat most of the time to me, and not touching despite the story being a priori very touching.

Phoenix is always great in whatever he does, and he's the only actor whose character I felt and believed to be real in this film. Marion Cotillard is really sweet but, despite the role being written for her, the dramatic coloratura of the script, speaking in Polish, and shedding the perfect tear, her acting feels flat, as if she had taken a muscular relaxant during the film; unfortunately, I didn't think her acting was coming from the heart and it didn't touch mine. I found Jeremy Renner miscast in his role, he has no chemistry with Cotillard on camera and he was never meant to be a rival of the always powerful Phoenix.

The script has no tempo, unfortunately, so it dragged me alone on a two-hour flat ride. You know, the movie is really sad and emotional, but it rarely moved me, intrigued me, or kept me waiting for what was coming next. The movie felt, depending of the times, clichéd, phony, overly melodramatic, a bit frigid, but mostly unfocused and confused, and that's always the director's fault.

Overall, this is a nice film to watch, but it deflates before it gets fully inflated. There are many things I liked about this film, truly, but nothing I really loved, unfortunately.

too long and boring

[watcher2019 · 3/10 · 21 May 2020]

After 15 mins it was easy to guess the story line, its been told so many times. Great cast that could have been in a much betterfilm. What a waste of their talent, or maybe they were just between jobs at the time. Another film where you could watch the first 5 mins, the middle 5mins and the end 2 mins to get the full picture.

...great period piece movie with underdeveloped characters

[bcheng93 · 7/10 · 22 March 2014]

i cannot believe this movie got no Oscar consideration this year. both Joaquin phoenix and Marion cottilard deserved Oscar nominations for best actor and actress. i like this movie over " American hustle " and Joaquin's performance was brutally good, especially the last few moments of the movie where it was not sappy but i wanted to cry anyway. it is a f*ucked-up world we live in an its very hard not to desensitize ourselves, which to a degree everybody does.

OK, this movie probably had a lot of production problems, like one of the reviewers said that he caught the 95 min. version and i actually watched the 2 hr. version and that was to short of a running time. this has the feel of an epic movie and the actors and actresses were superb in this movie. i think someone needs to hang or shoot the scriptwriter cause everything else about the movie was awesome.

the basic story is set in early 1920's new york city,and its about 2 sisters from Poland( how good is Marion's polish? ) immigrating to America and arriving on Ellis island. her younger sister is sick and quarantine and waiting to recover and be deported. she is about to be deported also because her sponsors( aunt and uncle )never arrived to pick them up. in swoops Joaquin phoenix to rescue the day and get her out of Ellis island and to downtown Manhattan. oh...BTW, did i mention that he is a pimp and hustler and finds a lot of the girls fresh of the boat who are in dire situations by bribing the guards.

...that is as far as i want to go with the story, it really is a must see movie but make sure you get the longest version possible not the 95 min. one. this movie dwells on the darker side of immigrant life and that America is not the utopia everybody makes it out to be. the streets ain't paved with gold and life was often very hard.

i want to give a shout-out for jeremy renner, he looks very debonaire and suave with the short-cut and the pencil moustache. he played the lovable loser cousin of phoenix and was a delight.

why no Oscar consideration for this movie this year??????. this movie had 3 a-list actors who gave very good performances, set production was gorgeous( everything looked dreary and old like its suppose to ). i don't know if there was cgi involved for the Ellis island scenes, but it was very well done and even new york city in the 1920's was well done.

the last scene between Marion and Joaquin is worth the price of admission alone and i just wish this bittersweet movie was at least a 1/2 hr. longer.

maybe it'll make next years Oscars as it has not officially been released here in the states yet and they can fix it up before then, it just needs a little touching-up here and there thats all.

wanna watch a really good movie? well this is one of the best of the year in my opinion. enjoy!

Realistic, yet Dreary Immigration Story

[mycannonball · 6/10 · 6 November 2021]

The cinematography and period elements of this story are great. It's a slow, sad character story, and in that vein, it was pretty well done, but it was just a little too bleak and dreary for me to enjoy.

good story of coming to amurrica way back when

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 16 May 2021]

Some great names .. Marion Cotillard (oscar), Joaquin Phoenix (oscar), Jeremy Renner(nominated). An immigrant is tricked into a life of "entertainment"...( more likely prostitution ), while her sister is stuck at Ellis Island back in the roaring twenties. Bruno (Phoenix) runs things, and takes advantage of the girls fresh off the boat. Directed by James Gray. Story by James Gray and Ric Menello. Sadly, Menello died just before the film was released. This film won many film festival honors. Pretty good. Two hours.

The lie

[chaos-rampant · 4 June 2014]

A woman appears in a new world (it's New York in the 20s) that should be rife with possibility, she has the address of relatives where she's going to live, she could get a job, marry, leave the misery behind. But a showman arranges to take her in as part of his cabaret show - she doesn't know this but is little by little swept in, as we are, into sex, despair, drama. The questions are about the extent of the manipulation in this world - was the customs officer bribed to report a false address, is the sister sick as reported?

But we see everything in the same passive yellow light. The filmmaking itself is unimaginative, but more, the filmmaker isn't trying to sculpt possibility, only arranges the story that will take us into his show.

How much more bold and difficult it would be to have the woman herself manipulate, actively try to carve her own fate? Was the incident on the ship during the voyage really a lie? And would we judge her if it wasn't? And if we did, would we be any different from the bigot uncle?

But see, for the filmmaker this won't be an important lesson unless she's just stood there, pure, tossed about, as two rival men watch her and scheme for her, and we watch them, and there's only a postcard importance between the levels of watching.

Strong performances, disappointing film

[estebangonzalez10 · 6/10 · 30 April 2014]

"Don't give up the faith, don't give up the hope. The American dream is waiting for you."

The Immigrant is Joaquin Phoenix's fourth collaboration with James Gray in the director's chair, although this time the lead role went to the beautiful and talented Marion Cotillard who gives a subtle melodramatic performance without going over the top. She always delivers great work and watching her alongside Joaquin Phoenix was near perfection. The major problem I had with this film was that the story really didn't engage me despite the potential it had. The Immigrant takes the American dream premise and turns it upside down by focusing on characters who were much less fortunate during that time. Despite the great performances I never warmed up to the characters and found the melodrama a bit tedious. I'm on the minority when I say this because critics have fallen in love with Gray's work, whose fan base has been growing over the years. I still prefer his earlier film, We Own the Night, but this is the film he will probably be remembered for from now on. It was a bit disappointing for me, although I did enjoy a couple of scenes (especially Phoenix's revelation near the end) and the talented actors who were cast in this film. The 20's atmosphere created by Gray didn't really impress me either, but there is enough here to give it a mild recommendation.

The screenplay co-written by Gray and Ric Menello (who also collaborated with Gray in Two Lovers) begins by introducing us to two polish sisters, Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and Magda (Angela Sarafyan), who have just arrived at Ellis Island from Poland. Their dreams of a better life are shattered when the officials take Magda away because they discover she has tuberculosis. Ewa isn't allowed entrance either because the officials claim that the address where they were supposed to stay (their aunt and uncle's home) doesn't exist and that no one from their family is here to account for her. A man named Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) happens to be there at the right time and offers her an opportunity to stay with him. Having no other option she accepts. Bruno takes advantage of the situation and tricks the innocent Ewa into working for him as a prostitute. Wanting to save her sister, she will do what it takes but Bruno is a deceiving man who has fallen for her. When Bruno's charming and charismatic cousin, Orlando (Jeremy Renner), arrives he teaches her not to lose hope and have faith that she will be able to meet her sister again. But Bruno isn't too happy with Orlando's arrival and sees him as a potential threat so a jealous rivalry ensues and so the plot thickens.

Jeremy Renner was perhaps my favorite character in this film and I enjoyed his performance. Perhaps it helped that he had a likable character and was the less restrained of the actors, but I thought he was the highlight of this film. I really enjoyed Phoenix and Cotillard, but Renner was the one that helped me get engaged with the story. The scene near the end is perhaps my favorite moment and by far Phoenix's best performance in the film. Phoenix is such a talented actor and he has made a lot of great films so this performance might be forgotten over time, but Cotillard does shine in her first English language lead performance. The scene where she is confessing her sins to a priest is the one that audiences will remember her for. It would have been very tempting and easy for her to be more melodramatic in a harsh film like this, but she gives a restrained performance that allowed the story to feel more real and believable. I still think she is better in the roles she gets in foreign films, but this was a great opportunity for her. The Immigrant has a pretty straightforward narrative with melodramatic moments that would have failed tremendously if it wasn't for the cast who managed to pull off believable performances.

Absolute masterpiece, best movie I've watched in a long time

[ahmegy-914-445509 · 9/10 · 27 March 2014]

Magnificent performance by the leading actors, and even supporting roles. Incredible set, photography, costumes, script, direction, you name it. A true chef d'oeuvre and a feast for the senses. Cotillard is out of this world in almost every scene she appears in, I would not be surprised at all if she sealed an Oscar next year, or at least a nomination. Phoenix had an outstanding performance in this emotionally charged brilliantly written and directed movie about the very depths of human nature, lust, love, greed, survival, good and evil. Renner was great too, within the frame of his role, with some unexpected events as the story unfolds. This is not a movie where you can predict exactly what will happen next, you just sit back and live this amazing movie experience and thank God such great pictures are still made. A couple of hours of my life very well spent.

Very good...

[Thanos_Alfie · 6/10 · 20 May 2020]

"The Immigrant" is a Drama - Romance movie in which we watch a young woman arriving with her sister in New York on 1921. Her sister is kept in Ellis Island because her health was not good. She has to do everything she can in order to get some money in order for her to get her sister back from Ellis Island.

I liked this movie because it presents the truth behind Ellis Island and how some people who were working there did whatever they want as long as they were receiving more money. It also presents the ugly truth behind many women who were arriving in America for a better future but instead of that they were living on a nightmare because some people were taking advantage of them. The interpretation of Marion Cotillard who played as Ewa Cybulska was simply amazing and I believe that her interpretation was one of her best. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Joaquin Phoenix's who played as Bruno Weiss and Jeremy Renner's who played as Orlando the Magician / Emil. Finally, I believe that "The Immigrant" is a great movie which everybody should watch because it presents many truths about Ellis Island and of that specific time which was very difficult for many people.

"The Immigrant" is a mediocre film that at least attempts to make a statement about good, evil, holiness, sainthood, and sinning.

[texshelters · 5/10 · 22 June 2014]

"The Immigrant" Fails to find a Home

"The Immigrant" is film about an immigrant who leaves Poland to escape the Great War. Along the way, the immigrant faces some of the tragedies we have seen in films about immigrants before: loss in their home country and poverty, usury, abuse, and corruption in their new home. The film fails to cover new territory, nor does it present the challenges of immigration in a way that is worth watching. It would have been more entertaining to watch a documentary about immigration of the era.

The immigrant, Ewa Cybulska played by Marion Cotillard, goes through a traumatic journey to get to Ellis Island, or so she tell us. However, we don't see it on film. The benefit of film is you can visually enact the traumas and emotions with flash backs or shadowy memories. Other than lovely Ewa's face and Cotillard's lack of depth as an actress, all we can go on are her words, "I have suffered." Perhaps a more adept actress could have pulled off the portrayal of trauma or perhaps if they had spent a few thousand dollars on a flashback, we may have been able to feel it ourselves. The film fails to get us to fully empathize with Ewa despite their efforts.

Other than the pretty and shallow acting of Cotillard, the film features Joaquin Phoenix as Bruno Weiss. Mr. Phoenix seems more concerned about winning his first Oscar by playing a morally questionable character than actually embodying the role of a man who preys on immigrants. Jeremy Renner plays a magician and suitor to Ewa, Emil. He is more charming and adept, but has little to work with in terms of plot and dialogue.

And that brings us the major problem with this and many other films. Both men are in love with Ewa, but we don't know why. Other than being pretty and speaking English, there is nothing to recommend her. She is not talented, smart, endearing, personable, nothing. A film that hinges on romantic attraction better make it clear why people are so taken with the object of their desire. I know that for many film-goers a character's attractiveness is enough. But attractiveness is not enough for a partner in real life, so why should it be so in film? Somebody so obviously under the affects of PTSD, Ewa, would be a real turn off to most people.

Rating: Rent it. The film is not a disaster, and it is certainly better than much of the superhero films, teen dramas or drunken adult films available in theaters currently, but it is not a great movie. "The Immigrant" is a mediocre film that at least attempts to make a statement about good, evil, holiness, sainthood, and sinning.

Peace, Tex Shelters

A strange, twisted relationship of human love and forgiveness

[jkbonner1 · 8/10 · 26 May 2014]

In the opening scene we see a blurred shot of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Blurred because hope too can be blurred. It is 1921 and Ewa Cybulski (Marion Cotillard) and her sister, Magda (Angela Safaryan), arrive at Ellis Island to enter the United States. They come from Katowice in southwest Poland.

Waiting in line, they excitedly discuss starting a new life. They want to get married to nice men and have lots of children. To get started, they are expecting to meet up with their aunt and uncle who live in New York City and who will provide a base for them to get established. But this happy plan almost immediately goes awry. Magda has a hacking cough. A Public Health doctor pulls her out of the line and orders her to be quarantined in Ellis Island's infirmary for six months where she cannot have visitors.

Because Ewa (pronounced Eva) was a nurse to an English family, she knows English. When she reaches the Ellis Island Customs Officer he informs her the address she has for her aunt and uncle is fake and that there is in fact no such address. The aunt and uncle never show. He accuses Ewa of lewd behavior and tells her women of low morals are not allowed to enter the United States. She is to be deported and must stand in a line with other deportees. She is extremely upset. First her beloved sister is taken away from her. Then she is going to be deported because she has no one to stand up for her. She is in despair. And she is also extremely vulnerable. These facts set the tone and the direction of the entire movie.

Enter Bruno Weiss (Joaquin Phoenix). He approaches Ewa in the line of detainees and offers to give her room and board and a job. Because her aunt and uncle didn't show up and she has no way to contact them―and also because she's completely broke―she feels she has no choice. But she discovers very quickly the boarding house is a whore house and the job is to display her body in front of male patrons in a small burlesque theater in Lower Manhattan. Later she is expected to sleep with them. Bruno is an expert manipulator of people who can easily ferret out their psychological weaknesses and use them to his own advantage. This is the way he keeps his girls (his "doves") in line.

With seemingly no other choice Ewa is pulled into the life that Bruno has defined for her. As the ultimate bait Bruno tells Ewa that with the right amount of money he can get Magda off Ellis Island. Although she is thoroughly disgusted by making a living this way (she's a devout Roman Catholic), because of her circumstances she is forced to become a prostitute. Bruno uses guile and psychological manipulation to keep things in line. But he does not beat the women. And also he does not sexually abuse them, but this was left a little murky.

Bruno is not a simple, one-dimensional villain. Bits and pieces of his life are revealed. He caustically relates to Ewa a short description of himself as a young boy dancing in the streets of Manhattan for money with a tin cup strapped to his leg so that people can conveniently toss coins into it. He remarks, "What we won't do to survive." He too started off in life dirt-poor. The world is hard. And the world is cruel. Unless you have some kind of safety net, either through family or through society, you can easily slide down the slippery slope and lose your humanity. This is true whether it's 20th century bc Babylon or 20th century ad New York City. It's part and parcel of the human condition.

Bruno develops a soft spot for Ewa. While Ewa is saying her confession to a priest, Bruno has entered the church and is listening in. He knows what he's done to her but hearing it from her lips to a stranger makes it even worse. The aunt is found and gives Ewa money to pay for Magda's freedom, which is arranged through Bruno's contacts on Ellis Island. He gives Ewa one-way tickets for her and Magda to go to California to start a new life. He confesses he's the one who purposefully set her up so she'd fall into his clutches. He tells her because of what he's done to her he is nothing. She replies softly, "No, you are not nothing." In her way Ewa loves Bruno and forgives him for what he's done to her.

One reason I give this movie an 8 rather than a 10 is what I consider one major flaw, which is the character of Orlando (Jeremy Renner), a magician whose real name is Emil and who is Bruno's cousin. Renner does a good job acting the part, but Orlando/Emil's role is chiefly as Bruno's nemesis rather than an actual flesh-and-blood person in his own right. He and Bruno have had previous run-ins and it's clear from other comments that Orlando/Emil is a very argumentative character. He's also embarrassed Bruno before and caused him to lose the first girl he truly loved. In summary Orlando/Emil seems more driven to free Ewa from Bruno's grip because he wants to thwart Bruno than from any deep feelings he has for her. They fight and Bruno kills him with a knife.

The settings and costumes are outstanding and convincingly capture 1921 Lower Manhattan. Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard and the other cast actors are very good.

Although Ewa and Magda can start a new life in California, the ending leaves murky Bruno's ultimate fate. This is another reason I give the movie an 8 rather than a 10. But I highly recommend this movie. It's far better than the habitual slop Hollywood spews out.

A lavishly filmed drama

[eddie_baggins · 7/10 · 31 May 2015]

A film that looks more lavish and feels more epic than its minimalistic budget constraints should've allowed, James Gray's finely crafted and at times movingly harsh 1920's set period drama The Immigrant is a well-made and intentioned piece of filmmaking yet there is little denying that the film lacks a certain something that would've made it really fly and become something more than what it is upon conclusion.

James Gray is a solid filmmaker; you would argue that he is yet to make a truly bad film and his directional skills of the Immigrant showcase once more that he is an accomplished artist. The combination of musical score, well framed shots by DOP Darius Khondji and a well-crafted production design combine to make The Immigrant live and breathe 1920's and the film feels alive because of it. You get the feeling that if Gray had acquired more financing the film could've become a well spectacle that would've gone hand in hand with the human drama and created something really quite special. It's where Gray arguably shines the most, in his human storytelling and like his films We Own the Night and The Yards, Gray and his well acquitted cast have some great moments in this undeniably bleak story.

Once more teaming up with Joaquin Phoenix Gray's film really does belong to Marion Cotillard. Cotillard's Ewa is a determined, likable and above all else decent human being caught up in a whirlwind of unfortunate circumstances and her journey to America to find a better life and her travails once there is a believable and often heartbreaking tale. It's another expertly acted turn by Cotillard and she finds herself out acting the always good Joaquin Phoenix and poor old Jeremy Renner who is left a little in the dust of these two in the somewhat shoddy role of magician Emil. With the appearance of Emil The Immigrant faces it's toughest hurdle as a love triangle of sorts builds, the film struggles to maintain it's down to earth believable vibe and a few too many narrative stumbles really hurt the films progression despite a nicely staged and effecting finale.

Watchable and often powerful, The Immigrant is a very solid drama that gets bogged down in some questionable narrative arcs and an at times undeniable lack of funds/crew to make the film take off to what it so easily could've been. Some great turns by Cotillard and Phoenix are the main reasons to check this tale out and for die-hard fans of Gray, it's another great example of a director who looks likely to develop a true classic at any given moment.

3 and a half lucky scarves out of 5

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Bad in so many ways

[jvanderkay · 2/10 · 6 June 2014]

...that I almost walked out, something I have never ever done. I am amazed that most of the posted reviews are so favorable! Much too long, much too melodramatic, no character development, no motivations, really, riddled with anachronisms and remarkably unlikely happenings -- shallow and sensationalist. At the beginning, I had hopes for Joaquin Phoenix's character, and the story arc of Ewa and Magda, but those just petered out into emotionality. Plot twists that could have added depth to our perception of the characters and events were hidden until near the end, when they were just lost in the climactic excess of emotion and aforesaid melodrama.

I have now had a lifetime's surfeit of Marion Cotillard looking angelic and tearful or fearful -- why couldn't they give her something more to do? Also, though Phoenix turned in a predictable tour-de-force performance, I believe he is capable of more/better, but alas I think it would have to be with a different director.

I guess it's a good thing that there was so much Polish spoken, but it really didn't add anything to the movie -- just to the director's ego, I suppose. They could have used those efforts better in making sure the English was appropriate for the time and place.

I suggest you not spend your money on this one. Watch it if they put it on TV -- it's colorful, and maybe they will cut its run time a little and that will improve it, I'm sure. I'm giving it a 2 instead of a 1 because it is still professionally executed -- it's the material that's the problem.