The year is 1950, and Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) has spent her entire life in County Wexford, Ireland with her older sister Rose (Fiona Glascott) and mother Mary (Jane Brennan). While she’d probably be happy never leaving, she has been struggling to find work. And so, with the assistance of Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), Eilis has arranged for a job in America, working at the Bartocci’s department store. Father Flood has also arranged for lodging at a boarding house, and has enrolled Eilis in an evening accounting course at the local college.

Eilis boards the ship for Brooklyn, where she meets her cabin-mate Georgina (Eva Birthistle)—who was once in the same position as Eilis is now, but is a now a confident woman of the world. Georgina gives Eilis some words of wisdom to help prepare her for what lies ahead.

At first Eilis has an overwhelming sense of homesickness, but once she starts to let her hair down and makes friends with the other girls at her boarding house, this begins to pass. The girls attend the weekly dance at the Irish club where Eilis meets a young man, an Italian plumber named Tony (Emory Cohen). The two hit it off, and their romance blooms. Everything is going perfectly when Eilis receives news of a tragedy back home. She needs to head back Ireland for a month to take care of things.

However, when Eilis arrives back home, she soon discovers that things have changed in the year she has been away. There are now a lot more opportunities open to her, and a young man named Jim Farrell (Domhnall Gleeson) has even taken an interest in her. Eilis starts to feel the pull of home and wonders whether or not she should stay. She finds herself torn between two worlds and two loves, both of which have their own appeals, advantages and comforts.

I really enjoyed this film, and even more-so the second time around. The story is captivating, and the script is so wonderfully written. One of my favorite lines is Georgina’s response when Eilis ask if letters from Ireland take a long time to arrive to America: “They do at first…and then in no time at all.” And there are many other beautiful gems of wisdom like this throughout the film.

The acting is also superb—Saoirse Ronan really captures and conveys the spirit of this young woman who is on her own for the first time in a strange country, who ultimately grows to be a strong, confident woman. She has great chemistry with both potential suitors that I couldn’t even make up my mind on how I wanted things to play out! I kept expecting one of the guys to turn into a villain to make the decision easier, but it doesn’t.

In addition to the love story, there are some heartbreaking and dramatic moments, but also some really humorous moments. There is a hilarious scene when Tony’s precocious younger sibling tells it like it is at a family dinner. And any scene with the other girls from the boarding house is usually ripe for laughs—like Diana (Eve Macklin) and Patty (Emily Bett Rickards) goading house mother Mrs. Keogh (Julie Walters) at the dinner table, or teaching Eilis how to eat spaghetti, or Dolores (Jenn Murray) talking about how she hopes to find a fella at the dance.

The filmmakers have really recreated the 1950s era in great detail. The viewer is instantly transported back to this simpler time. Whether it’s the picturesque, green pastures of Ireland, or the streets of Brooklyn, the film always looks dazzling. And every scenic detail is beautifully captured on this Blu-ray. The film’s soundtrack is also great, utilizing all of the audio channels to either enhance the ambiance of the setting, or to bring the film’s beautiful score to life.

The Blu-ray also includes a digital copy of the film as well as decent selection of bonus material—11 deleted/extended scenes, 21 minutes of promotional featurettes, a director commentary and a behind-the-scenes photo gallery.

What’s Included:
Film: (1:51:24)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Russian DTS 5.1
  Czech Dolby Digital 5.1, Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1, Polish Dolby Digital 5.1, Turkish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Russian, Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Mandarin (Simplified), Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Digital Copy (Redemption Deadline 2/23/19):

• Digital HD Copy redeemable via iTunes, Flixster (UltraViolet), Google Play or Vudu (UltraViolet)

Extras:

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (9:37)
  A collection of 11 deleted/extended scenes. These can be watched with with optional commentary by director John Crowley, who explains the reasons why each didn’t make the final cut. Play All or select from “Dinner To Go (Extended)”, “Opening the Store”, “Going To Brooklyn”, “Christmas Away from Home”, “Dancing (Extended)”, “Brooklyn is Changing”, “Bathing Suit”, “Come Inside”, “Basement Lock”, “New York Secrets” and “Cemetery Visit”.

• Promotional Featurettes
  A collection of promotional featurettes where the cast and filmmakers share their thoughts on various aspects of the film. These featurettes include interviews with director John Crowley, producers Amanda Posey and Finola Dwyer, writer Colm Tóibín, screenwriter Nick Hornby, and actors Saoirse Ronan (“Eilis”), Domhnall Gleeson (“Jim Farrell”), Jim Broadbent (“Father Flood”, Emory Cohen (“Tony”) and Julie Waters (“Mrs. Kehoe”). Some of the interview footage is repeated in multiple featurettes.
  • The Story (3:28)
    The cast and filmmakers discuss the premise of the film, the era, and Eilis’ journey.
  • Home (3:01)
    Saoirse Ronan talks about what attracted her to the film; the cast and filmmakers discuss immigration and the pull of home.
  • Love (2:58)
    The cast and filmmakers talk about Eilis’ choice between two countries and two men.
  • Cast (4:07)
    The cast members talk about their characters, and working with one another. Also includes behind-the-scenes footage from the set.
  • The Making of Brooklyn (3:37)
    A look behind-the-scenes at the filming in Ireland, Montreal and New York.
  • Book to Screen (4:00)
    A discussion of the novel, and adapting the story for the screen.
• Audio Commentary by John Crowley (1:51:24)
  Director John Crowley provides an informative commentary throughout the film. He gives some interesting facts and stories about the production process, sets, music, actors, story, and more. He talks in a bit of a low, soft voice and takes some pauses at times, but I still found this to be quite an enjoyable listen.
• Gallery (2:05)
  Manually step through this slideshow of 24 behind-the-scenes photos, or let it auto-advance every five seconds.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:27)
• Sneak Peek (15:41)
  Play All or select from trailers for “Discover Digital HD”, Demolition, Youth, He Named Me Malala, Mistress America, Desert Dancer, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Final Thoughts:

Brooklyn is not only beautifully written and acted, but its is also a visually stunning film that tells a captivating story of a young woman who is on her own in a strange country for the first time, and ultimately finds herself at a crossroads choosing between two loves. The Blu-ray presentation looks and sounds great, and the disc also contains a nice selection of bonus material, including deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes and an audio commentary. It’s easy to see why this film was nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay—I enjoyed the film even more the second time around. This Blu-ray comes Highly Recommended, as this film is definitely worth checking out!