John Crowley
The Goldfinch is not a secret masterpiece, but it is good, beautiful even, and is worthy of revisiting and re-evaluation.
John Crowley’s adaptation of The Goldfinch lets down its source material and is, above it all, limp Oscar-bait.
In The Goldfinch, a boy in New York is taken in by a wealthy Upper East Side family after his mother is killed in a bombing at the MoMA.
There is a moment about halfway through Brooklyn when Saoirse Ronan’s character is shown as a distant speck in a giant field of green grass, as if lost amongst the lush vegetation. The moment comes soon after she has decided to go visit her mother in Ireland after a loss in the family; though not immediately apparent, it foreshadows her soon-to-come inner conflict, which will make her question where she truly belongs. Such a gorgeous and symbolic shot is representative of much of Brooklyn, which is far deeper than its relatively straightforward subject matter would imply.
