The film landscape has changed significantly over the past 50 years, giving way to big-budget studio films and low-budget indie movies, with little room for mid-budget films from newer directors. However, A24 has been going in the opposite direction, giving some of the most creative young filmmakers in the world a chance to create and distribute their work to a large audience.
“The Brutalist” is one of A24’s newest films, but it doesn’t feel like one. The movie can only be described as a classic American epic, on the level of films like “The Godfather” and “All the President's Men”, though this film is not based on any true event like the aforementioned films. Written and directed by 36-year-old Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist” takes the audience on a three-and-a-half hours long journey, and it does not disappoint.
The runtime includes a 15-minute intermission and an epilogue, which helps to bring back the true feeling of classic cinema. The movie was shot with 35 mm film, giving it a gritty 70s charm, all with just a $10 million budget. For how large the film feels, its budget does not suggest such scale, a credit to Corbet’s writing and direction.
“The Brutalist” is one of those films that cannot be experienced just by looking at the plot synopsis. Rather, to truly feel the impact, the film must be seen on the largest screen possible, with the finest sound system possible.
The film follows Hungarian-Jewish architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody), who was separated from his wife and niece during the Holocaust. He comes to America seeking work and finds himself with his cousin in Pennsylvania. After some time, Tóth begins to work for a wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), where he is hired to design and construct a community center to honor Van Buren’s late mother. The building consists of a library, a theater, a gymnasium and a chapel, the latter of which is a key theme throughout the second half of the film.
The rest of the film follows Tóth as he continues to design and build the community center. He is simultaneously struggling with a heroin addiction, which makes him aggressive and violent at times.
The acting in the film was superb. Adrien Brody as László Tóth is the obvious highlight of the film, and likely where much of the Oscar buzz will go. Brody doesn’t just play Tóth, he is Tóth. Each mannerism, word, phrase and glance feels authentic, like László Tóth was a real man who lived and struggled in a post-WW2 world. He is a flawed man with a dream, much like many real Holocaust survivors who immigrated to America during that time. He is not a perfect person in any way, but he stands up for people and tries to make a respectable living, despite his struggles.
Another standout performance was Guy Pearce as Harrison Lee Van Buren He does not feel like a mustache-twirling villain, and at times does not feel like a villain at all. Pearce plays Van Buren with obvious flaws, but his charm and wit make it hard to hate the character.
The film plays with the theme of sacrificing for one's art, and whether hurting those around you for the benefit of your art is worth the high cost. Throughout the movie, those around Tóth get dragged into his struggles, from his wife to his niece, to the Van Buren children. No one is immune to the wreckage caused by the creation of the community center and Tóth’s unwillingness to budge on his project. It questions whether all the hardship is even worth the effort, especially when those in power use and abuse the talented few.
Corbet shows those themes through a more relatable story that many Americans could understand easily, that being a post-Holocaust immigrant moving to America. His struggles are shown in the context of the 1940s to the 1980s, with important historical events occurring during the years Tóth was working on the community center.
The audience also comes to have an understanding of brutalist architecture and a general idea of what a European, Bauhaus-trained architect would behave like and what his motivations would be. It is a great way to supplement a story about an artist's struggle through a world the audience is familiar with.
The script for “The Brutalist” is sharp and emotional, leaving some room for interpretation but never losing the audience at any point. The cinematography also stands out, with some unbelievable shots that burn into the brain days after first watching the film. Some of the shots are grand in scale and scope, showing the true size of the buildings and the world around them. Other times, the shots are extremely close, showing the dirt and grime upon Tóth’s face, where his every emotion can be seen simply through his eyes. The variety of shots and dynamic camera movement keeps the audience on their toes, making a three-and-a-half-hour movie feel half as long.
“The Brutalist” was a big swing for Corbet and Brody, but it was a grand slam of a gamble. It is not often that films of such magnitude are released in theaters. With the vibe of a classic 70’s film, the techniques of a modern-day film, and the timeless story of a tortured artist, “The Brutalist” accomplishes what few movies could. The film is not without its issues and critiques, but to focus on those would be a disservice to the movie. “The Brutalist” is a once-in-a-generation type of film, and will be an essential watch of the 2020s by the end of the decade, just another feather in the cap of A24.