Home Is Where the Heart Is — Brooklyn Movie Review

John Crowley's film Brooklyn, based on the Colm Toíbín novel of the same name, was one of the London Film Festival galas for which I didn't manage to secure tickets. But as a result of the film's popularity, the BFI put on another preview screening on Saturday evening, followed by a Q&A with Crowley himself. The £9.15 members' tickets were also a steal compared to the £28 price for the LFF gala.

I read Toíbín's hugely popular novel more than five years ago and although I remembered the basics of the plot, I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading it and, in particular, how well-drawn the character of the protagonist, Eilis, and her emotional journey felt. Crowley's film, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby, is a relatively faithful adaptation of the novel, although with some structural changes.

Brooklyn opens in the early 1950s in the small Irish town of Enniscorthy. Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is preparing for her imminent emigration to the United States, which has been arranged by her beloved elder sister Rose (Fiona Glascott) and a friend of Rose's, Father Flood (Jim Broadbent), a priest who lives in Brooklyn and who has organised the documentation for Eilis and even found her a job. Eilis fears that she will miss her sister and their lonely, ageing mother (Jane Brennan), but Enniscorthy doesn't offer her many prospects — for work, fun or love.

After a rough voyage to New York, Eilis arrives in Brooklyn wide-eyed and terribly homesick. She doesn't enjoy her job in a fancy department store but starts to take night classes in accountancy at a local college. She lives with a gaggle of other Irish girls in a boarding house run by the formidable Mrs Kehoe (Julie Walters), who favours Eilis on account of her being less "giddy" and catty than the others. It is only when she meets a charming Italian chap named Tony (Emory Cohen) at a church dance that the homesickness finally begins to fade. As their romance blossoms, Eilis begins to hope that she may be able to build a new life — and home — for herself in this strange new land.

But a sudden turn of events means that Eilis must return to Ireland for a few weeks. She has already booked her boat ticket back to New York, but her mother and, seemingly, most of the other residents of Enniscorthy seem to be conspiring to try to convince her to stay. She spends time with her best friend Nancy (Eileen O'Higgins), she gets a part-time job as a book-keeper and she develops a friendship with the town's most eligible bachelor Jim (Domhnall Gleeson). Life in Enniscorthy no longer feels like a prison sentence and this, added to familial duties and a real love for her home, mean that Eilis must make some very tough life choices.

Ronan is terrific in the central role. She masters the more complex, nuanced emotions her character undergoes just as well as the lighter and more comic moments (of which there are many). Crowley told us in the Q&A that Ronan had actually moved from home to London during the filming of Brooklyn and experienced some of the homesickness and feeling of being pulled in two quite different directions as her character. The other actors don't get much screen time but put in some great performances, especially Walters and the gaggle of girls at the boarding house. The two love interests — played by Cohen and Gleeson — both have great chemistry with Ronan, even though the brash but sweet alpha-male-ness of Tony contrasts greatly with the understated, sensitive and tender Jim.

The film is also beautifully shot, with meticulous attention to detail. Crowley talked at length in the Q&A about the changing colour palettes (including in the costumes) as the film progresses. Despite the film's name, they could only afford two days of shooting in Brooklyn, so Montreal stepped in for many of the interior scenes. The Irish scenes were shot on location in Enniscorthy, where many of the residents appeared as extras or spent days on end watching the filming.

Brooklyn is a love story, a timeless, compelling and unusually structured one at that, but it is really about the journey of its central character: her physical journey, of course, but also the steps she takes towards independence, self-knowledge and understanding of her place in the world. And that journey is something we can all relate to, whether it's 1950s Brooklyn or 2010s London, and beyond.

Lisbon Specialty Coffee Guide

Lisbonites love their coffee and it's easy to get a decent bica (a slightly longer version of an espresso) for around €1 all over town. If you're looking for a longer drink, however, third-wave coffee bars are only just starting to arrive in the city and the quality is more variable. Here are a few of my favourites.

Fábrica Coffee Roasters
The first stop on my Lisbon coffee tour was Fábrica Coffee Roasters, a café and roastery on Rua dos Portas de Santo Antão, just north of Praça dos Restauradores. The first time I visited, I was seeking shelter from the torrential rain, and sank gratefully into one of the comfy chairs, but on my last day I returned to soak up the sunshine on the little terrace area next to the pavement. The décor inside is industrial shabby-chic: a quirky mix of wood, brick and metal. There is also free wifi, which is great for a few holiday Instagram uploads.

Fábrica serves a range of cakes, salads, sandwiches and other light meals, but the coffee menu itself was fairly extensive. As well as the usual espresso-based drinks, you can enjoy coffee brewed with a V60, Aeropress, Kalita or Chemex, and they also serve cold brew and iced coffee. On my first visit, I tried their Colombian coffee, roasted in their in-house roaster, brewed with an Aeropress (€3). Because I was in Lisbon, I also ordered a pastel de nata, which was delicious, if messy. The coffee itself was very good: strong, smooth and with a subtle fruity acidity. I wanted to come back to buy a bag of the beans but I had spent all my pennies on pastéis de nata by the end of my trip.

On my return, I tried a single-origin macchiato (€1.70) — I'm not sure which variety they used — which was beautifully made and with an Instagram-worthy, if slightly lopsided latte art heart. I would have liked to order another, but my flight home was calling my name.

Fábrica Coffee Roasters is located at Rua dos Portas de Santo Antão no. 136. Website. Facebook.

(Note: There is another — unrelated — café called Fábrica Lisboa, which looked nice enough but which I didn't visit.)

Copenhagen Coffee Lab
On my coffee tour of Copenhagen, one of my favourite discoveries was a tiny, cosy café called Copenhagen Coffee Lab. I noticed on their website that, somewhat randomly, they also had a Lisbon coffee bar, so of course I had to check it out. Located on the picturesque Rua Nova da Piedade in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood, CCL Lisboa has a lot in common with its Scandinavian sister, including the cheery yellow colour of their exteriors.

Inside, the café has a minimalist feel, although the small vases of pretty flowers on each table add nice pops of colour. There was one particularly cosy-looking window nook where you could curl up with a faux fur throw and cushions, but I opted for a seat at the other window — there are plenty of seating options, depending on whether you are MacBooking or socialising. There were several hand-brewed filter coffee choices — V60, Aeropress and French press — and, predictably, I ordered the Aeropress, which was a bargain at €2.50.

You can tell when hand-brewed filter options are just starting to enter a market because the cafés don't quite get the pricing right and end up under-charging for a coffee that takes much longer to prepare. Nonetheless, my coffee arrived promptly and was very well-made. In fact, I wish I had ordered a second to take with me on my train journey.

Copenhgen Coffee Lab Lisboa is located at Rua Nova da Piedade no. 192. Website. Facebook.

Wish
It's a good thing that Wish, a 'slow coffee house' located inside the shopping, eating and arts complex known as LX Factory, placed their coffee menu outside their café or I might have walked past, distracted by the varied offerings of LX Factory. I could see that they served French press, V60 and Chemex, and it had just started to rain. It was a no-brainer.

Inside, the décor is whimsical: small, hexagonal tables, origami lamps and quirky wall art. I took a seat at one of the small tables and ordered a V60 for one. As this cost €5.50 (expensive by Lisbon standards), I assume it was a V60 for two for one, but who's counting? As the name suggested, the coffee did take a while to arrive, but I wasn't in a rush and was busy using the wifi to try to work out if the rain was ever going to stop. When my coffee arrived, there was definitely enough for two — two regular people, anyway — and it came with two tiny pastries. The coffee wasn't quite as great as at Fábrica and Copenhagen Coffee Lab, but it still tasted good, and if you need a coffee stop while at LX Factory, this is the place to go.

Better still, there is an accompanying boutique, selling a carefully edited selection of homewares and stationery and accessories. Coffee + shopping; what more does a girl need?

Wish is located at LX Factory, Rua Rodrigues Faria 103, space G.02. Website. Facebook.

I only spent a few days in Lisbon, so please do let me know if there are other great coffee bars that I missed so that I can add them to my list for next time.

Lisbon Day 4: Sunshine and Azulejos

Tuesday was my last day in Lisbon and finally, the sun came out to play. It was 24 degrees and sunny right up until the time I had to leave for the airport. This was the weather I had hoped for on this trip.

I checked out of my B&B early and went straight to the start point of Tram 28, Lisbon’s most famous tram, at Martim Moniz. It was just after 9 am but there was already a long queue. I had to wait for the second tram — about 25 minutes — before I could get on, and the queue had doubled in length by then. It was quite fun to ride the tram and I managed to get a seat by the window, albeit facing sideways so I ended up with a bit of a stiff neck. 

Tram 28 circles up around Castelo São Jorge and then descends past the cathedral and through Baixa before climbing up to Estrela, west of the city centre. There are a lot of great sights on the route, which is why it is so popular, but I had already seen most of them and the tram got so busy that the view wasn’t that great. I got off near Miradouro das Portas do Sol to take in the view from this terrace once more. There are some beautiful miradouros in Lisbon, but I think this one is my favourite.

I then walked downhill to the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, which is a 20-minute stroll north of Santa Apolónia metro station. It’s an easy walk but not particularly scenic, so if you’re coming from Cais do Sodré or Praça do Comercio, you’re better off hopping on one of the regular buses that run along the route. The museum is an homage to the country’s azulejos — tiles — and features room after room of artisanal tiles, some centuries old, some only a few years old. I thought that the word azulejo came from the Spanish azul (blue), but instead, it derives from an Arabic word meaning ‘small polished stone'.

My favourite display was the huge panoramic view of Lisbon, which depicts the city before the devastating 1755 earthquake. I also watched some of the curators at work restoring tiles in the workshop. I spent about an hour in the museum and it costs €5 to get in (free entry with a Lisboa Card).

I took a bus back to Praça do Comercio and then walked along the waterfront, enjoying the glorious sunshine. Lisbon really does look its best when the vibrant reds and yellows of the buildings contrast with the perfect blue sky and sparkling turquoise river.

For lunch, I visited the Mercado da Ribeira, a huge building divided into a traditional food market and a gourmet food court, sponsored by Time Out, where you can enjoy food from many of the city’s top restaurants and bars. Most of the vendors serve traditional Portuguese cuisine but you can also get a gourmet burger or some sushi. I went to Alexandre Silva’s counter and ordered the tuna with sweet potato and a sort of deconstructed kimchi sauce (€8.50), which was excellent.

I wasn't quite full, though, and I certainly hadn't yet had my fill of pastéis de nata, so I walked up the hill to Manteigaria, a rather excellent bakery in a former butter factory (hence the name). I bought a couple of the custard beauties (€1 each), which came packaged in a cute pastel de nata carrier. I sprinkled some cinnamon on top and devoured them before the pigeons could steal any.

There’s a lovely miradouro on R. São Pedro de Alcântara, which offers a great view of the city, the castle and the river. I stopped to enjoy the sunshine and take a few more photos and then followed the road around to Praça do Principe Real. This street — and Rua da Escola Politécnica, as it becomes a few blocks further west — has some great shopping options, particularly if you are interested in fashion and design. Embaixada, at number 26, is a series of concept stores and pop-up shops, focusing on clothing, accessories and homewares, located over three floors of a beautiful, historic building. It’s a great place for gifts and there is even a gin garden at the back.

A little further west, at Rua da Escola Politécnica no. 42 is Entre Tanto, which is a smaller version of Embaixada, with a few small fashion pop-ups and a couple of cafés. I also stopped into a boutique called This and That, located at Rua da Escola Politécnica no. 50, which has some nice, original gift ideas, for kids — big and small.

My time in Lisbon was running out, so I headed back to Fábrica for one last coffee. The weather was much nicer this time so I sat on the terrace and enjoyed my macchiato, before walking back in the direction of my B&B. I went back to the miradouro at the top of the Elevador Santa Justa, peering down the 19th century lift shaft, and then heading inside the Convento do Carmo (€3.50). The convent was built in the 14th century but was mostly destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. The archaeological museum houses a large number of artefacts from the site. 

My B&B was Casa do Carmo and overlooks the convent. I liked it a lot — my room was huge with high ceilings and a view onto the convent and up to the castle and the 170-year-old building is beautiful. The staff are friendly, wifi good and a decent breakfast included. A few points: bathrooms are shared, but they are big and I rarely had to wait (most of the other accommodations I found in this price range also had shared bathrooms); there is no lift up to the third floor (but don't come to Lisbon if you don't like steep climbs!); and it can be a bit noisy at night — Largo do Carmo often has live music and, less pleasantly, on Monday night there was a rowdy British hen party singing Abba until the wee hours. The noise issue is probably true for any other central Lisbon location, particularly in lively Chiado, so bring your ear plugs! 

Overall, though, I would recommend Casa do Carmo and a trip to Lisbon more generally. You can see most of the main sights in three or four full days, but do bring a good pair of walking shoes; you will need them. A quick note on the Lisboa Card: it costs €39 for 72 hours, including free transport (including the metro, buses, trams and funiculars), and entrance to various museums and sights. However, do check which ones are included as some only offer 10 or 20% discounts, including Castelo São Jorge, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and the Sintra palaces. I just about got my money's worth and I would pay a little extra for the convenience of not having to keep buying public transport tickets.

Lisbon Day 3: Day Trip to Sintra

Many of Lisbon's museums and other attractions are closed on Mondays so I decided to visit the nearby town of Sintra.

First, though, I stopped by one of the other coffee shops on my list: Copenhagen Coffee Lab's Lisbon branch. I really liked the original CCL and had high hopes for its Lisbon counterpart, which is located on a quiet street in Bairro Alto. The building is painted a cheery yellow but inside, the décor is as sleek and minimalist as you would expect of a Scandi café. The coffee menu was extensive, with V60, Aeropress and French press offered alongside espresso-based drinks. I ordered an Aeropress brew (only €2.50!) and took a seat in the window. The coffee was great and the café is a cool and cosy place to hang out — the Macs were out in full force!

The historic town of Sintra is a 40-minute train ride from Rossio station in Lisbon's city centre. There are a few trains an hour (I had to wait about 30 minutes as the 11.21 never showed up), and it costs €4.30 return (the train is free if you have a Lisboa Card). Sintra is located in a huge national park about 20 miles northwest of Lisbon. There are numerous palaces, castles and parks to explore and although you can buy combination tickets, the entry prices rack up quite quickly. There are public and tour buses that run between the train station and the main sights, but given the distance between the sights and the hilliness of the terrain, you are probably better picking one to three for a half- to full-day visit.

Fed up of waiting around for public transport, I decided to walk to the 19th century Palácio da Pena, which is probably the most famous of the Sintra sights — it's certainly the most spectacular, with its bright colours and quirky architecture. The woman in the tourist information office told me that it was about a 5km walk, all uphill, but this didn't put me off. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the footpath she mentioned, so I ended up walking along the roadside. There isn't a proper pavement but the switchbacks are so tight that it is easy to spot approaching cars, tuktuks and coaches.

It took me about 50 minutes to reach the entrance of Palácio da Pena. I passed the Castelo dos Mouros on the way and, as I was also planning to visit the castle, I wish I had bought my combo ticket there as there was no queue. Instead, I waited in line for about 30 minutes at Pena. The inclement weather on Saturday meant that the Pena park itself was closed, but you could still access the palace. I paid €18.43 (including a 10% Lisboa Card discount) for entrance to Palácio da Pena and the Moorish Castle. You could knock about €7 off that price but just visiting the terraces of the palácio and not the inside — with hindsight, I wouldn't have bothered with the palace interiors.

There was one final 500m slope up to the palace itself, although if your legs have given up, you can pay another €3 for a shuttle. The palace is really quite cool. From the moment you glimpse its vibrant red and yellow walls from afar, you know it isn't like any other palace you've ever seen before. Up close, the detail is also quite superb, especially the tiling.

The inside of the palace is pretty nice too. On seeing the dining room (which offers views across to Lisbon), another tourist remarked: "It's not that big. You could imagine living here." Hmm...

Afterwards, I walked around the terraces — there aren't really very many barriers to prevent you from tumbling down the hillside, but this made for some excellent views. I even managed a slightly precarious (for my camera) self-timer shot.

Next stop was the Castelo dos Mouros. Door-to-door, it's about 15 to 20 minutes between the two sights, and yes, there is more climbing. The remains of the castle sprawl across the hillside and you can climb all over the ramparts — again, there is little to stop you from plummeting downwards, so do be careful!

From the castle you can look back across at the Palácio da Pena and down on the town of Sintra and Palácio Nacional de Sintra. The views are quite stunning and I definitely felt that I had earned my selfie!

About halfway between the castle and the castle ticket office, I spotted a sign for a footpath back to Sintra (it just says 'centro historico'), which was a much quicker route down. It's probably steeper than the road but shorter and definitely safer. My ankles weren't too keen on all the steps but before too long I was on the train back to Lisbon, enjoying a well-earned ice cream. Note: the food options at the palácio and the castelo are pretty poor, so take your own food if you can. Also, if you can earlier in the day, the queues will be shorter and the sights won't be so crowded.

Cinema tickets in Lisbon are under €7 and I wanted to take advantage and catch up on my movie to-do list (I saw Sicario, which is excellent). I just had time for a quick early dinner at Fábulas, a lovely, cosy café-restaurant near Baixa-Chiado metro. You can stop by for a coffee or a glass of wine in the crypt-like surroundings, but I had a delicious bowl of pumpkin risotto (€9), which filled me up after a hard day's hike.