Brooklyn (U.K./Ireland/Canada)  

An unbelievably beautiful film, buttressed by Nick Hornby’s literate script and an unforgettable performance by Saoirse Ronan as a young Irishwoman adrift in 1952 New York, Brooklyn is one of the strongest opening films VIFF has ever had.

What makes it memorable isn’t the huge sweep of history or any melodramatic conflict, but simply the steady accretion of small, deeply human feelings.

And, oh, those clothes