Such mixed reviews. No, "The Immigrant" is not melodrama. Emotions are not exaggerated. No, it is not slow. The story moves at a reasonable pace to tell us about a period and place very different from our world. It presents characters struggling through a daily existence that Charles Dickens would have recognized.
It is a masterpiece of character development. None of the characters is a stereotype that rides along on a single track. They all have good qualities, even the character portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, and they all have some dark qualities, including Marion Cotillard's remarkable portrayal of Ewa and Jeremy Renner's portrayal of Orlando the Magician. There are no "perfect" characters in this story. All are forced to compromise their beliefs in order to survive.
As the characters stumble through a world in which nearly everyone participates in graft and corruption, they are forced to make decisions unlike any thrust upon us today. It is important to remember that.
It is a masterpiece of character development. None of the characters is a stereotype that rides along on a single track. They all have good qualities, even the character portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, and they all have some dark qualities, including Marion Cotillard's remarkable portrayal of Ewa and Jeremy Renner's portrayal of Orlando the Magician. There are no "perfect" characters in this story. All are forced to compromise their beliefs in order to survive.
As the characters stumble through a world in which nearly everyone participates in graft and corruption, they are forced to make decisions unlike any thrust upon us today. It is important to remember that.