The Brutalist
THE BRUTALIST (18)
D: Brady Corbet
A24 / Brookstreet / Kaplan Morrison (Brady Corbet, Nick Gordon, D.J. Gugenheim, Andrew Lauren, Trevor Matthews, Andrew Morrison & Brian Young)
US/UK/Hungary聽馃嚭馃嚫馃嚞馃嚙馃嚟馃嚭聽2024
215 mins
Drama
W: Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
DP: Lol Crawley
Ed: David Jancso
Mus: Daniel Blumberg
PD: Judy Becker
Adrien Brody (L谩szl贸 T贸th), Felicity Jones (Erzs茅bet T贸th), Guy Pearce (Harrison Lee Van Buren), Joe Alwyn (Harry Lee Van Buren), Raffey Cassidy (Zsofia), Stacy Martin (Maggie Van Buren), Alessandro Nivola (Attila Miller)
One thing that may detract audiences from watching this post-Holocaust drama may be the 200min+ length, and though the film is a lengthy one, for the most part, it really doesn鈥檛 feel like one.
Adrien Brody delivers a tour de force performance as L谩szl贸 T贸th, a Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp survivor and former architect who arrives in the United States after being separated from his wife, who has remained in Europe.
He arrives in New York full of promise, travelling to Philadelphia to unite with his cousin, but struggles with assimilation into his new country, becoming a heroin addict before his fortunes turn after he is hired by a billionaire to design a community centre in memory of his late mother. A job which Laszlo takes up and becomes increasingly consumed by, even when he his reunited with his wife.
There is a lot to marvel at in Brady Corbet鈥檚 directorial breakthrough, especially since the film was made on a relatively meagre budget of $10m and looks as though it cost ten times that, especially considering the stellar cast involved.聽聽Brody, as previously mentioned, is exceptional, fully deserving of his second Best Actor Oscar, but high praise also belongs to both Felicity Jones, who carries the second half of the movie, and Guy Pearce, who plays the film鈥檚 ambiguous antagonist.聽聽The cinematography, music score and production design are also top notch, and it isn鈥檛 surprising that they were also recognised during the awards season.
I鈥檇 say that this could have been close to a masterpiece were it not for a disappointing final act, especially the final ten minutes, which jumps from the late 1950s to the 1980s and seems to leave out a great deal, which is quite inexcusable for a film that is close to 4 hours long.
The acting is remarkable, however, and though it may not feel like a complete work, it鈥檚 very close to being one.
8/10
