The Immigrant (2013)
First screened in October 2013 / Most recently screened in July 2014
Director: James Gray. Cast: Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner, Angela Sarafyan, Antoni Corone, Dagmara Dominczyk, Maja Wampuszyc, Ilia Volok, Jicky Schnee, Gil O'Brien, Joseph Calleja. Screenplay: James Gray and Ric Menello.

 Twitter Capsule: Operatic conception, playing romantic hope against inexorable forces of grief and myth. Cotillard, Khondji astonish.

Second Capsule: Even deeper for me on second pass. A frontier Western set in New York. A penitent's passion. Rich, subtle textures.

VOR: ⑤  Truly ambitious filmmaking, trusting scrupulous texture, color, composition, etc., to do their work. Maybe less true of men's roles. Outcome a bit foreordained, too. Still, swims against all current tides.


Photo © 2013 The Weinstein Company/Worldview Entertainment

Not yet reviewed in full. Grade: A–

(in October 2013: B+)
Awards:
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Actress (Cotillard; also cited for Two Days, One Night); Best Cinematography (Darius Khondji)
Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Actress (Cotillard; also cited for Two Days, One Night)
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