The Immigrant

Ellis Island, 1921. Ewa arrives from Poland with her sister; the sister is held in quarantine with an illness and Ewa is left alone, facing deportation. A man named Bruno steps in, saves her and then pushes her into prostitution. His cousin Emil, an illusionist, appears to open another door. James Gray directed; it is the first of his films built around a woman. Marion Cotillard plays Ewa, Joaquin Phoenix plays Bruno and Jeremy Renner plays Emil. It was shot in New York between January and March 2012. Gray had only two months to work Cotillard's Polish dialogue with her and left much of the emotion to her face. Its distribution story is a separate matter. Harvey Weinstein acquired the US rights three months after the shoot and pressed Gray to change the ending; by Gray's account what was proposed combined The Sound of Music with Titanic. When Gray refused, Weinstein threatened to send the film straight to Lifetime. The conflict delayed the US release until May 2014. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 86 percent. Cotillard took major critics' prizes including Best Actress from the National Society of Film Critics. The box office stopped at 5.9 million dollars worldwide; the promotion and distribution support never came. Who it is for: viewers who like period drama, immigrant stories and watching Cotillard's face. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace. The film moves slowly and puts all its weight on quiet scenes.