The brutalist Movie Review

Brady Corbet makes one of the most epic films of the 21st century with a less than 10-million-dollar budget

Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Tóth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost. Brady Corbet directs one of the most epic films of the 21st century that explores class war fare, what it means to be an immigrant in America, dealing with the trauma of being a holocaust survivor in late 40s 50s America, having an epic scope with an intimate character study on a budget of less than 10 million which is insane considering there are movies with 200 to 300 million dollar budgets that look like crap.

The direction from Corbet is phenomenal I feel he should win the Oscar for best director the pacing for a 3 and half hour film flies by the choice to have an intermission and have the film play out in 2 parts is genius and even how he sets up the 2nd half of the film with a picture of László’s wedding with his wife so she and their niece can come to America has a lot of emotional residence. Corbet’s movement of the camera and how shots are framed are so compelling in that they make you feel like this an action film even though there isn’t any Corbet is able to add to much tension when László is designing the buildings for Harrison you can feel there is a darkness underneath everything going on. The way Corbet explores the themes in this film are amazing because he shows how you can make it in America as an immigrant but then he is fearless in showing the hardship but especially the darkness that was underneath 50s America like how the rich can exploit the lower classes or how you couldn’t talk about anything that was considered taboo like trauma, feelings, and sex.

The acting in the film is incredible starting with Adrian Brody as our lead László in his best role since he won the Oscar for the pianist in 2002 shows an incredible amount of range from being a genius at being an architect, to being emotional when he finds out his wife is alive and when he is reunited with her is some of the best acting I have seen all year. Him being broken when Harrison rapes him is devastatingly heartbreaking so even when he takes his anger out on the people who work for him you still have sympathy for him Brody imbues him with so much depth and humanity you are on the journey from the beginning to the end. Guy Pearce as Harrison Lee Van Buren a wealthy industrialist who recognizes László’s talent hires him to design and build buildings for the community is fantastic his best work since the film Lawless in 2012 plays this guy with a sniffling performative entitlement that permeates every second he is on screen even when he seems caring of László it does not feel 100 percent authentic like he is only doing that to get what he wants and feeling he can do whatever he wants because he is rich. Felicity Jones who plays László’s wife Erzsébet you hear in the first half as voice over is awesome she brings so much warmth, strength, vulnerability in her scenes with Brody they have great chemistry. The tenderness and love you can see her character has for László is potent but is also fraught from the trauma they both are dealing with being forcibly separated not seeing each other for 8 years but for me her moment of the film is when she confronts Harrison in front of his family for raping her husband her acting in that alone should get her nominated for an Oscar she is so defiant, fearless, and acting out of love to call this guy out for what he did is amazing the anger and heartbreak in her voice tells you what she is feeling at that moment.

The cinematography in the film is jaw droppingly beautiful from the opening of the film seeing the statue of liberty upside down sets the stage for what kind of film you are watching. I love the lighting of the intimate scenes like when László’s cousin is in the doorway in the dark tells you so much of the story that is happening in that moment it makes you feel a little bit of fear and dread. The shots of when you get to see László’s creations on display are gorgeous and make you understand why he was so respected before the war at what he does. I love how Corbet lets shots play out that he doesn’t rush like when László and Harrison go to this white mountain he lets you take in the beauty of the location or lets the camera sit on actors faces to let you feel their performances is so refreshing when quite a few big budget movies have a million cuts that don’t let you do that at all to their determinate. The score for the film is great it’s like another character in the film I love the music in the opening scene when you see the statue of liberty, when they are building the projects for Harrison the score is inspiring, and when the end comes before the epilogue it has a haunting tragic melody to the music.

Final thoughts on the Brutalist is I love this film and an example of how great American film can be with great direction, acting, writing, and just great storytelling that doesn’t rely on explosions, CGI, or shared universes I’m going to give this film a 5 out of 5 I don’t have any criticisms of the film please see it in theaters or get it on 4k BLU-RAY.