This week on Reel Shorts, Travis Hopson and I discuss writer/director James Gray’s most personal and autobiographical film to date, the period drama, The Immigrant.
The year is 1921. In search of a new start and the American dream, Ewa Cybulska and her sister Magda sail to New York from their native Poland. When they reach Ellis Island, doctors discover that Magda is ill, and the two women are separated. Ewa is released onto the mean streets of Manhattan while her sister is quarantined. Alone, with nowhere to turn and desperate to reunite with Magda, she quickly falls prey to Bruno, a charming but wicked man who takes her in and forces her into prostitution. And then one day, Ewa encounters Bruno’s cousin, the debonair magician Orlando. He sweeps Ewa off her feet and quickly becomes her only chance to escape the nightmare in which she finds herself.
Directed by Gray, The Immigrant stars Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner.
Check out the review below: