The Immigrant

The Immigrant was released in 2013 as an American drama film starring Jeremy Renner, Marion Cotillard, and Joaquin Phoenix.

Plot

The setting takes place in 1921 where a Catholic Polish woman, Ewa (Marion Cotillard) and her sister Magda arrive in Ellis Island, New York as nothing more than immigrants trying to seek a better life from the post Great War in Poland.

Upon getting off their ship and going through examinations for health and safety, Magda is placed into quarantine for her lung disease and both girls are on the list for deportation back to Poland when Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) swoops in as Ewa's hero.

Seeking Ewa for all the wrong reasons does Bruno bribe an officer to release her and then takes Ewa under his wing. Bruno takes the poor, innocent woman back to his home. Of course, Ewa is in need of making money so that she could release Magda, therefore Bruno offers her a spot in his theatrical plays to dance and soon, turns her into a prostitute while also battling his romantic feelings for her.

Through the course of these events does Ewa also try looking for close relatives of hers that live in New York. Once finding her aunt does she assume that things will turn to the brighter side only to find that she's been given up to the authorities as an illegal immigrant by her uncle who claims to not want to illicit such behavior (prostituting, exotic dancing).

Taken back to Ellis Island where she's soon to be deported once more, Ewa watches a magic show performed by Emil (Jeremy Renner) who immediately takes a liking to the fragile and helpless woman while coincidentally happening to be Bruno's cousin. The odd love triangle to follow as well as Ewa's struggle to rescue her sister is just a mix for disaster.

Overall

It was really just a movie I picked out to watch because Jeremy Renner was in it, plus or minus the fact that it was a boring night and I wanted something to play in the background as I was doing homework. In all honesty, this isn't the type of movie I'd sit through, but I oddly liked it to a certain degree.

While the plot was boring, I had to admit that I really felt sorry for Ewa's character and how she as a person had to suffer extensively for her sister. She was a victim of a horrible individual - Bruno - that was only looking for ways to make money and the abuse of her relatives that didn't seem to care much for her anyway.

I just thought that there was too much drama for one movie in all honesty and that's kind of a big turn off for me. As always, Jeremy's character was just a small role that didn't stay around for long which is also a bummer, but the rewatch value of this movie: probably won't ever watch it again.

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