When I arrived at our B&B after the 3 ½ hours-plus press screening of Brady Corbet’s enormously ambitious film The Brutalist, my husband noting the overwhelmed look on my face asked, “So, how was it?” My only reply was, “A lot!”
The Brutalist chronicles the brutal odyssey of Hungarian-born Jewish architect László Tóth (Adrien Brody) who emigrates to the US in 1947 having survived the Holocaust seeking that elusive “American dream.” Before you go googling the man, much like Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár, he’s a fictional character weaved rather magnificently into the American landscape of a certain period—here the post-WW2 years.
The film opens with a shaky-cam prologue that would make Lars von Trier retch. When the dark, frenzied madness ends, we realize we have arrived at Ellis Island…and a sideways Statue of Liberty…wait, no she’s upside down, no…diagonal. Okay, I get the metaphor.
In part one of this sprawling epic, Tóth arrives at the home and business of his completely Americanized cousin (Alessandro Nivola) whose shiksa wife does not want him around, so she manipulates Tóth’s departure from their lives. Plunged into poverty but through a bizarre stroke of faith, he lands a contract with an eccentric and wealthy client Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) that will alter the course of his life. Tóth’s wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), is stuck in Europe thanks to bureaucratic red tape along with his niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy). They arrive in the second half when everything starts to go to hell, and in a shocking sequence late in the narrative, a heinous act is committed. One that will have repercussions for all.
Seven years in the making, the movie was shot in 70mm film stock in VistaVision, a widescreen process developed by Paramount in the 1950s to compete with CinemaScope. Corbet wrote the sometimes brilliant, sometimes heavy-handed screenplay with his wife and collaborator Mona Fastvold. They also penned Corbett’s previous two fascinating films: The Childhood of a Leader and Vox Lux.
I am mixed on the film’s tech aspects. While I loved Daniel Blumberg’s propulsive, anachronistic score and Judy Becker’s period perfect yet non-nostalgic production design, I was not always thrilled with Lol Crawley’s cinematography which toyed a lot with depth of focus, isolating certain images and blurring others. It confused a host of people at the press screening I attended with shouts of “focus” happening throughout. It took me a while to realize that it was an artistic choice. The photography is most magnificent in haunting scenes shot in the Italian mountains.
Although the film is uniquely its own cinematic achievement, at times it evokes Giant, The Fountainhead, Hester Street, and There Will Be Blood.
Brody, who won a surprise Oscar for Roman Polanski’s The Pianist, has not had a role this challenging since. Much of The Brutalist could be seen as a follow up to that feature. Brody delivers a complex, frustrating performance since Toth is quite often too passive a character. Still, it’s extraordinary work. Pearce dives right into his part as if he’s Clark Gable playing Howard Hughes. Grandstanding and commanding he steals every scene he’s in. It should bring him his first Oscar nomination in supporting.
The rest of the cast, from Nivola to Cassidy to Joe Alwyn playing a supreme asshole, are excellent. Only Jones, in an odd and underwritten part, can’t seem to get a handle on her role. An important 11th hour confrontation scene Erzsébet prompts should ring heroic. Instead, it simply feels awkward and ill planned.
The filmmaker tackles many themes including assimilation, class, trauma, the essence of human nature, the corruption of capitalism, people’s inability to be empathetic towards others who’ve been psychologically damaged by genocide, and that’s just a few. Architecture aficionados will have much to digest as well
There will be a lot written about this film. Cinephiles will go berserk. It will be divisive. It may even win some major awards. There is great artistry on display in The Brutalist and a lot of the film is captivating. But I found that the many great moments did not add up to a masterpiece. I am most intrigued by what Corbet, the gifted actor turned director, will do next.
The Brutalist premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 1.
