What if the head of the household is pleasant, is loved by everybody, is without any malice, but is also a dreamer who doesn’t provide a living for his family? What then?
From its very opening, the movie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , touches the heart. (Who didn't love Saturdays, as a kid?) Everything you said about the movie in your introduction made me want to watch it, and now that I have, I can appreciate everything you said.
I enjoyed the scenes that took place in the kitchen because there are things in it that I recognize from my own grandmother's kitchen...the cast iron pans, the wash basin, the straight-back chairs, and the tea cups. (I'm sure many of your readers can remember their grandmothers purchasing Jewel Tea cups, and various other dishes & bake-ware from the Jewel Tea Man.) And speaking of grandmothers, I loved the one in this movie. She didn't have many lines, but the ones she did have rang so true, as they are the feelings of many a grandmother who came to this country looking for a better life for herself and her family. She loved her new country. I'm not quoting her verbatim here, but she said something to the effect that in the US a person is free to go as far as they can go, and that a child can be better than the parent; it is learning, that is free to all, that accounts for this. Her wisdom shines forth when she tells Katie and the children that learning isn't just for getting a job either, but for "...the true things that live inside of us."
Neely was a character in more ways than one! He may have been peripheral to the story, but more than a few of the lines he had were funny, and he delivered them perfectly.
This is another great movie recommendation, in what is getting to be, your long list of movie recommendations. Thank you!
I love both the novel and the film. There probably isn't a book which resonates with me more as I, too, grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and even frequented the same Leonard Street Library as young Francie. Even in the 80s and 90s, the neighborhood wasn't much different from what Betty Smith depicted. The place was teeming with immigrants, most of whom were wonderful, but there were always a few ne'er-do-wells. The life was, admittedly, kind of rough and unsavory at times. Once the folks from the old country started to die off, though, and their heirs sold off their property to the real estate developers, the gentrification process really unfolded. Nowadays, Williamsburg is a trendy place to live. The neighborhood of my youth is all but gone, bereft of the elements which made it once endearing: children playing ball on the streets or in the parish schoolyard, old Nonninas in their kerchiefs walking to the grocery store, neighbors sitting and chatting on the front stoop, and Mom-and-Pop shops where everyone knew your name. I miss the old Brooklyn, and I can't look at what it's become without a sharp pang.
Such a lovely commentary on the movie. I really like this thought, "It’s the possibility of love among human beings such as we are." Watching the movie you can't help but love Johnny, like when he's telling the sick neighbor girl how beautiful her dress is. And, yet I feel for the mother, and in real life would probably side more with her. What makes the movie for me is the actress who plays Francie. In fact, and it's probably just me, but I found Francie in the book not nearly as endearing as Francie in the movie.
Johnny Nolan’s observation that the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) will grow through concrete is not an exaggeration. It’s native to China and was introduced to the US from England in the late 18th century. It will grow in almost any otherwise hostile location.
This movie is great and gritty. The viewer gets absorbed into the story by such fine acting and character development that you feel you are present with Francie as we see her world through her eyes. I love this movie.
It has been a long time ago since I read the book, but there's a scene in it that stuck in my mind. And that is the scene of the wasting of the coffee and the main character's aunts' chastising the mother for it. Even the very poor need a little luxury every once in a while. But was it really a luxury if the girl smelled it and was comforted by the warmth of the cup in her hand? That scene is so poignant and it made me think of the things I take for granted.
I remember that about wasting the coffee. I read the book when I was in high school. I was 18 when my husband and I got married, and back then I didn’t like coffee much, but I loved its smell. I told him I was going to make coffee every morning and pour it down the sink just so I could smell it.
From its very opening, the movie, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , touches the heart. (Who didn't love Saturdays, as a kid?) Everything you said about the movie in your introduction made me want to watch it, and now that I have, I can appreciate everything you said.
I enjoyed the scenes that took place in the kitchen because there are things in it that I recognize from my own grandmother's kitchen...the cast iron pans, the wash basin, the straight-back chairs, and the tea cups. (I'm sure many of your readers can remember their grandmothers purchasing Jewel Tea cups, and various other dishes & bake-ware from the Jewel Tea Man.) And speaking of grandmothers, I loved the one in this movie. She didn't have many lines, but the ones she did have rang so true, as they are the feelings of many a grandmother who came to this country looking for a better life for herself and her family. She loved her new country. I'm not quoting her verbatim here, but she said something to the effect that in the US a person is free to go as far as they can go, and that a child can be better than the parent; it is learning, that is free to all, that accounts for this. Her wisdom shines forth when she tells Katie and the children that learning isn't just for getting a job either, but for "...the true things that live inside of us."
Neely was a character in more ways than one! He may have been peripheral to the story, but more than a few of the lines he had were funny, and he delivered them perfectly.
This is another great movie recommendation, in what is getting to be, your long list of movie recommendations. Thank you!
I love both the novel and the film. There probably isn't a book which resonates with me more as I, too, grew up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and even frequented the same Leonard Street Library as young Francie. Even in the 80s and 90s, the neighborhood wasn't much different from what Betty Smith depicted. The place was teeming with immigrants, most of whom were wonderful, but there were always a few ne'er-do-wells. The life was, admittedly, kind of rough and unsavory at times. Once the folks from the old country started to die off, though, and their heirs sold off their property to the real estate developers, the gentrification process really unfolded. Nowadays, Williamsburg is a trendy place to live. The neighborhood of my youth is all but gone, bereft of the elements which made it once endearing: children playing ball on the streets or in the parish schoolyard, old Nonninas in their kerchiefs walking to the grocery store, neighbors sitting and chatting on the front stoop, and Mom-and-Pop shops where everyone knew your name. I miss the old Brooklyn, and I can't look at what it's become without a sharp pang.
Such a lovely commentary on the movie. I really like this thought, "It’s the possibility of love among human beings such as we are." Watching the movie you can't help but love Johnny, like when he's telling the sick neighbor girl how beautiful her dress is. And, yet I feel for the mother, and in real life would probably side more with her. What makes the movie for me is the actress who plays Francie. In fact, and it's probably just me, but I found Francie in the book not nearly as endearing as Francie in the movie.
Johnny Nolan’s observation that the Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) will grow through concrete is not an exaggeration. It’s native to China and was introduced to the US from England in the late 18th century. It will grow in almost any otherwise hostile location.
This movie is great and gritty. The viewer gets absorbed into the story by such fine acting and character development that you feel you are present with Francie as we see her world through her eyes. I love this movie.
I love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the book and the movie.
It has been a long time ago since I read the book, but there's a scene in it that stuck in my mind. And that is the scene of the wasting of the coffee and the main character's aunts' chastising the mother for it. Even the very poor need a little luxury every once in a while. But was it really a luxury if the girl smelled it and was comforted by the warmth of the cup in her hand? That scene is so poignant and it made me think of the things I take for granted.
I remember that about wasting the coffee. I read the book when I was in high school. I was 18 when my husband and I got married, and back then I didn’t like coffee much, but I loved its smell. I told him I was going to make coffee every morning and pour it down the sink just so I could smell it.