Genealogy Goes to the Movies

I recently had the opportunity to see Brooklyn at a local theater and was struck by many thoughts and questions as I considered my own ancestors who left behind all that was familiar in order to make a new life for themselves in America.

The film follows Eilis Lacey, a young woman from County Wexford, Ireland, who immigrates to Brooklyn in 1952. Eilis is wracked with homesickness and grapples with all the nuances of assimilating to life in New York. When circumstances unexpectedly take her back to Ireland, just as she is gaining her footing in America, the question becomes where does her future lie?

Anyone with an interest in family history will appreciate this film for its exploration of what it means to be American and what you're giving up in the process. The social conventions she knows and her provincial experiences in Ireland leave Eilis ill-prepared to deal with a variety of situations she encounters in bustling New York. The film raised many questions for me about how much anyone knows what they are getting into when they undertake such a venture and what happens when you become disillusioned or worse off than where you came from.

The film got me thinking, as well, about what other films genealogists would feel an affinity for and I came up with a list of a dozen that fit the bill for me. Like Eilis' story, all tackle the isolation immigrants experience, the unsettling anxiety that comes from not knowing the norms and culture of the society you're entering and how your identity is forever changed as you assimilate.

One of the most iconic films on the list is The Emigrants, starring Liv Ullmann and Max Von Sydow, and its sequel, The New Land. This film depicts -- with grim detail -- the push-and-full factors influencing why people immigrated to America. The hardship doesn't end upon their arrival and the second movie follows the family as they begin to carve out a new life for themselves in Minnesota.

Miss Rose White, a Hallmark Hall of Fame production, tells the story of a young woman who immigrated as a child whose life -- and her careful American facade -- is disrupted when her older sister immigrates years later. It explores the attitudes of those who came before and some of the reasons they were so anxious to maintain a distance from newer immigrants. 

Avalon explores immigration and assimilation across three generations. Immigrant Sam is dismayed with his children and their attitudes towards their heritage -- including Americanizing their names -- as he struggles to bridge both the old country and the new; old traditions and new. Conversely his grandchildren, the next generation, become more interested in their heritage. These are just a few of the movies I have enjoyed that have led me to ponder what it was like for my immigrant ancestors. How did they feel about leaving their homeland? Joy? Sorrow? Fear? All of the above?

Now we're a nomadic, global population and rootless is a word that often describes people today, living far from the family and places where they grew up. Chances are many can't even point to a just a single place they call their hometown. Yet there is nothing new about this desire for adventure and seeking a better life elsewhere. Our doughty and intrepid ancestors did all that and more long before Skype and Facetime, and a myriad of other social media apps, were developed which help make the distances between loved ones seem small today.

Go my Pinterest board, Genealogy at the Movies, to see the complete list. Check it out and let me know if there are others you'd recommend!