The Immigrant

A film with excellent performances that unfortunately left me rather cold. What Joaquin Phoenix especially demonstrates is truly amazing, but overall, it just didn't resonate with me. The arrival of the magician excited me, as I always have a weakness for them, but then suddenly nothing. Simply just another historical drama. (09/09/2014)

How is it possible that this movie was only seen by so few people? How the hell is it possible that all around the world, this story sunk into an immediate oblivion? After I read the user Rob Roy’s review here, I felt almost sad about this fact. The result is that nobody knows about this movie and unless you are a fan of Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix or Jeremy Renner, you will probably never find out this movie even exists. But I really like all three of those actors and I’d been following the making of The Immigrant for some time. I’d been following it mainly because I wanted to see how the movie would turn out. And you know what? It’s not an easy film. It’s very raw, honest, slow, but thanks to all that it has a great atmosphere that you will remember for a long time. And the actors? They are the proverbial cherry on top that will be appreciated by everybody who gets surprised by this movie. And I believe that this movie will eventually reach many people. (30/10/2014)

James Gray very skillfully recycles and renovates in a modern way the somewhat forgotten glory of film artists of past generations. There is a fatal love triangle, a slow and precise escalation of pace, and exceptionally strong performances (Marion Cotillard speaks perfect Polish!). Some passages are redundant, so the pacing is perhaps a little too tepid and the characters are extremely detached, yet impressively portrayed. I enjoyed the imagery and the impeccable production design, I enjoyed Marion and the glamorous NYC of the 1920s, but I won’t need to see it again. The director sticks too closely to strictly defined boundaries and never pushes the envelope (e.g. strictly limited nudity, language, violence). (15/12/2017)

Wonderfully touching and visually authentic filmmaking that in a beautifully slow pace unfolds the story of the two protagonists, while undermining the saving value of the American dream, keeping a shallow flicker of hope. The biggest share of my intensive viewer experience comes from the beautiful female presence of Marion Cotillard, who’s great, but James Gray proves again his feeling for intimate and psychological stories that don’t take place or end as could be expected for the standards of classic Hollywood tales – and for that he deserves my admiration in this case, too. (24/12/2019)