History Film / Brooklyn

* CastTheExpert: The singer in New York who sings "Casadh an tSúgáin" is Iarla Ó Lionáird, a famous sean-nós singer in his own right for Afro Celt Sound System, and grand-nephew of famous folk singer Elizabeth Cronin.

The film stars Creator/SaoirseRonan, Emory Cohen, Creator/DomhnallGleeson, Creator/JimBroadbent, and Creator/JulieWalters.

The film stars Creator/SaoirseRonan, Emory Cohen, Creator/DomhnallGleeson, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters.

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: While Eilis is home, she's courted by Jim. Even though it's only emotional cheating, she still has a HeelRealisation and it's presented as something wrong.

* AnachronismStew: Minor example. [[spoiler: Rose's headstone]] dates the film to 1951-1952, and Eilis and Tony go to see ''Film/SinginInTheRain'' - which was released in 1952. However when Eilis first moves to America, one of her co-workers references ''Film/TheQuietMan'' - which didn't come out until August 1952 (and at this point it's still 1951).

* TheFifties: Set in 1951-1952. WordOfGod is that they took full advantage of the fact that pop culture was just starting to take off in America.

* AnImmigrantsTale: A DeconReconSwitch. [[spoiler: Eilis ultimately does find a happy and fufilling new life in America but only after tremendous homesickness and being seriously tempted to return to Ireland for good. The film does not pull any punches about the grimmer side of this trope either whether it be immigrants who never truly find a home in their new country or the family and friends left behind who essentially lose someone for good.]]

** Mrs Keogh in the film is considerably kinder, softer and more motherly than she is in the book.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Miss Kelly is a self-righteous busybody, but she's right in that it's inappropriate for Eilis to date Jim, given that she's ''married''. While this does make Eilis remember that she wanted to get away from this suffocating small town, it also spurs her HeelRealization about her behaviour.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Partly filmed in Montreal.

* PottyFailure: Subverted. Eilis can't get into the shared bathroom because it's locked (whether out of spite or because the person using it is also very ill is unclear). She barely--but successfully--manages to find a bucket instead.

* NostalgiaAintLikeIUsedToBe: The early 1950s are a pretty place, with lots of charming and rather innocent wholesome young folks - in both Ireland and New York - but not everything is rosy. Perhaps most notably in an age where only the rich could fly trans-Atlantic (and even then it wasn't by jet airliner in six hours) everyone else had to take the boat - and the boat was not as romantic as it seems, with cramped cabins, and the unpleasant side effects of seasickness.

* {{Foil}}: Jim to Tony. While Jim is taller, lives in Ireland and wants to see the world, Tony is closer to Eilis' height, lives in Brooklyn and planning to go into business with his family.

** Tony has bought land that he is planning to build a house on, and is going into business. Jim's job prospects aren't really specified and he is living with his parents. Big houses require money to keep them decent after all, and inheritances can be dwindled quickly.
*** It's stated that he runs his father's shop: since this is presumably the same line of work that put his father in a position to own such a house in the first place, he's probably doing all right.

* LimitedWardrobe: When packing for New York, Rose notes that every single item of clothing Eilis owns can fit in a small suitcase, including her shoes. Even after getting a job in New York and buying new clothes, Eilis is shown repeating clothes throughout the movie. Some of the more distinctive outfits (for example, the bright yellow dress and blue swimsuit) are very noticeably worn several times, which is realistic for anyone but even more so for a poor immigrant.

* LimitedWardrobe: When packing for New York, Rose notes that every single item of clothing Eilis owns can fit in a small suitcase, including her shoes. Even after getting a job in New York and buying new clothes, Eilis is shown repeating clothes throughout the movie. Some of the more distinctive outfits (the bright yellow dress for example) are very noticeably worn several times, which is realistic for anyone but even more so for a poor immigrant.

** Mrs Kehoe in the film is considerably kinder, softer and more motherly than she is in the book.

* BrainyBrunette: Eilis is given the distinction of being the first girl in Mrs Kehoe's boarding house to pass any exam at all.

* CoolOldLady: Mrs Kehoe, who acts as a surrogate mother to all the girls in the boarding house.