Brady Corbet delivers the definitive American epic of the decade that pushes the boundaries of cinema with Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones at their career best.
In an era where every film looks too similar to one another, it is always refreshing to see those go against the norm. Studios largely prefer to stick to what is safe and comfortable for them. Independent films suffer as a result of such passive thinking. There was a time when cinema was known as a medium that could encourage such innovation and free thinking over the past century. Nowadays, you would be lucky to find a studio film willing to take such risks or really make the audience feel every cent of the budget. So it is no exaggeration to call The Brutalist a monumental cinematic achievement.
A film made on a budget of under 10 million dollars. Every piece of information revealed about this film is astonishing in its own way. In fact, it is impossible to believe this was even made today in the era of modern Hollywood, where the big films are unable to be original anymore. Brady Corbet successfully crafts the illusion of the American Dream and tears it apart through the tragic story of an immigrant family, in search of something greater behind the smoked screens.
Examining the history of America post-war through the vision of an architect on pure 70mm celluloid projection at the Venice Film Festival. Immediately, it is clear that the biggest screen possible is necessary for this film-on-film experience that uses Vistavision, last used in The End of Evangelion, about 30 years ago. We see how business corrupts the purity and essence of art. The film begins with an irreplicable sequence. An overture in itself is a rarity, but how it is presented here is a feat worthy of considerable admiration. A young Hungarian man is travelling alongside other fellow immigrants by boat; there his eyes meet the blue sky as American ground is in sight.
An inverse of The Statue of Liberty is shown and Daniel Blumberg’s pumping score blasts at full sound. This singular moment is enough to give anyone a wake up call. No. This is not an ordinary film the audience is about to see. This is something special. Something not done before.
“Welcome to America.” A land of opportunity is within horizon. A place where hopes and dreams are forged, where people like Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) enter to form their own paradise. A place to call home. A home where survival is no longer the first and only thought before falling asleep and waking up. A promise of freedom is made that every person hopes to achieve. The American Dream is at its most blinding to those seeking a 2nd chance, a new opportunity. The upside-down statue sets the tone of the entirety of the 3 hour 35 minute runtime and foreshadows what’s to come. An inevitable dream becoming crushed. A reality turned into a nightmare.
A Land of hope and dreams
The first half flawlessly lays the groundwork for Laszlo’s story to begin. Reminiscent of Vito Corleone’s backstory in The Godfather: Part II, a former survivor during the war learns his trade and finds his feet on American soil. Reuniting with his American cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) and his wife Audrey (Emma Laird), where he is given refuge for the time being. Given Laszlo’s expertise in the crafts, Attila takes him on as a supervisor for his work in building/refurbishing buildings. This is when Attila introduces Laszlo to a wealthy patron family known as the Van Burens, where the son known as Harry (Joe Alwyn) asks for his father’s study room to be turned into a library as a surprise gift.
Initially banking on 1000 dollars, including materials and labour costs, Attila was happy to settle, but this is where Laszlo differentiates himself. He demands that the project cannot be done for less than 2,000 dollars, quickly giving a strong first impression to the Van Burens and leaving Harry with no choice but to accept. A small price to pay, given the family are millionaires, but it shows that Laszlo can help demonstrate that they too have their own worth and should not settle for the lowest value. Much to his father’s shock, Harrison (Guy Pearce) couldn’t believe his study room had transformed into a library without his consent, especially when his mother is dying. Lashing out at both Laszlo and Attila for desecrating his home and forcing difficulty on processing his mother’s safety, who passes that weekend.
This costs the 2 their jobs, and to make it worse, Harry refuses to pay for their time. Remember when America was seen as a place to inspire hope and dreams? Attila is the first to give Laszlo that reality check. Expressing disappointment and piling all the blame of the failed job on his neck, even going as far as also accusing his cousin for taking a pass on his wife. Disguising his cruelty by letting Laszlo know he will not harm him but will no longer help him. A family betrayal marks the first of many tragedies Laszlo endures throughout his 2nd attempt at a life in America.
Laszlo soon lives at a place of religious refuge alongside his friend and colleague Gordon (Isaach de Bankole) and his son. It’s only there when Mr. Harrison Van Buren comes to find Laszlo and offers to take him to coffee to express his apology, not knowing his son didn’t pay him. Gladly correcting his son’s error in judgement and providing payments with a sizeable bonus as a mark of the Van Buren generosity. But also to express his thanks for creating a beautiful library that the press and newspaper are especially fond of. Harrison takes particular interest in Laszlo’s past as an architect and, with some help, finds his original photographs of former buildings he made or renovated back in Budapest.
Laszlo in utter disbelief. Once upon a time, I thought these photos were long lost to memory. Now grateful to see his work as an architect remain intact and be still remembered. Asking to take those photos for keepsakes, inviting Laszlo to his home to enjoy the library as a guest for a party. an intellectually stimulating and persuasive conversation, as Mr. Van Buren likes to call it. Thus, forming a distinguished friendship between Van Buren and the Toths.
During the party, Laszlo finally reveals to the guests that he is married and his wife is still trapped in Europe, unable to escape and immigrate without support. Van Buren’s lawyer, who represents the vice president, kindly offers him the help he needs to reunite with his wife, Erszebet, and niece, Zsofia, with the necessary documents and a physical photo to prove their existence, which Laszlo communicates back and forth via letters to his wife. Shortly after, Van Buren suddenly takes every guest out to the hills and into the cold, expressing a desire to commemorate his mother with a community centre in her name. Large enough to fill the acres of space, significant enough to be seen as a cultural landmark for the town in Pennsylvania.
This is when we see the true extent of Van Buren’s ambitions and the actual reason why he invited Laszlo. A wealthy patron has finally found the man to realise his dream and share his vision for something memorable and one of a kind. The story of architecture and creating new land truly begins now.
With each sequence simultaneously building on the momentum from the previous while preparing for the next, it can be easy to get carried away and seemingly feel lost in the ever-developing scale and constant movement of this film. Yet Brady somehow manages to avoid this convoluted path, and every story beat and moment feels digestible and within grasp, despite its intimidating length. It’s almost like a moving train travelling at optimal speed, and the audience are the passengers, viewing all the beautiful sights Corbet is willing to share but giving enough time to take it all in. No scene feels rushed, nor does it drag. Every interaction and sequence is played out as much as possible, with long, drawn-out conversations being the pattern, letting the story and characters breathe but not hurting your immersion either.
The intermission is a masterfully executed midpoint that renews hope and veils dread at what’s to come for the Toths. Finally revealing the photograph of their family and flooding the viewer with emotion. That Laszlo is not alone, and his love for his family shone through even at his darkest days. One day he can finally reunite with those he loves. A built-in intermission with a 15-minute countdown timer shouldn’t feel so significant and impactful, yet it does. A testament to Brady Corbet’s powerful storytelling that truly makes you feel the weight of history and instills hope even in those who struggle to find any reason to.
The 2nd half continues where previously left off, with Laszlo with balloons and the biggest smile possible about to see and meet his long-lost wife again on the train platform. He sees her. He runs towards her with joy. This is the moment everyone was waiting for. Only for that smile to quickly fade and reality to settle in. His wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) is in a wheelchair. Why? How did he not know this? Why didn’t she tell him? So many questions and so little time to answer. But what Laszlo forgets is that just like himself, Erzsebet and Zsofia are survivors too. War takes many victims, and even those that overcome it still pay a price for living in those times.
The lesson learnt by Laszlo here is that there is always more to be done, and good things never come easy. What was meant to be a warm embrace turns into a moment of agony and heartbreak. The powerlessness immigrant families continually faced during and after the war is in full display here, even for those that were fortunate enough to outlive the genocide. But this was no time to despair. the love of his life has returned and is in his arms. This is a moment to be grateful for, as many aren’t so lucky to experience this reunion.
During a dinner between the Van Burens and the Toths, we soon learn that, unlike Laszlo, Erszebet is a well-equipped English speaker who studied at the University of Oxford. Encouraging Harrison to poke fun at Laszlo for not speaking as well and then tossing a coin at him, apologising but then asking that he pick it up from the floor like a slave obeying his master. There’s an instance when Erzsebet wonders how little he told of her to the others, but that moment gets lost in the passage of time as bigger plans take form with the Van Burens’ ambitions burning with passion.
There’s no time to lose. While the first half feels sequential, where every step is a landmark achievement. This feeling quickly subsides for a more explosive turn of events. It can be easy to not give it a second thought and think the film lost steam.
But Brady Corbet is very much intentioned in his storytelling. Believing to show 2 sides of the story, a film that shouldn’t be perceived as a story of 2 halves but rather 2 sides of the same coin. Without one, the other feels shallow and missing something to complete it. If the beginning phases set up the illusion of the American dream, where the land of opportunity arises, a place where immigrants seek a 2nd chance at life. Then what remains is the mask unveiling itself, showing the ugly brutality of America as its rose-tinted lens shatters under the weight of capitalism and greed. The overture forebodes this truth as the Statue of Liberty inverses. a dream soon becomes a nightmare. By escaping the hell of fascism, immigrants enter another hell through capitalism.
Post intermission may not be for everyone, but it can be argued to be just as good as what came before. It takes a darker, honest turn that challenges your perception of a grand epic told on an intimate level. Exposing the darker sides of each person as their true colours reveal themselves. The constant intrusions by other men break down Van Buren and Toth’s relationship. Harrison’s controlling and conniving nature renders him unwilling to concede his ambition or surrender his manipulation of Laszlo, thereby unmasking his cruel humanity as one to exploit and dominate those that oppose or seem vulnerable.
It is the final turn for Laszlo, and he transforms his frustration into a traumatic cycle of resentment and coldness towards anyone in range, even his loved ones. With Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy) choosing to live away with her own family and Erzsebet growing increasingly dissatisfied with their circumstances, things unravel at a scary pace.
It is difficult to know how this film can look and sound this good in today’s time, feeling eerily similar to the timeless quality and grain of The Godfather or Taxi Driver and other 70s and 80s American films. Maybe only Paul Thomas Anderson from this century has captured that similar magic. Brady delivers a cinematic spectacle using various types of maximalism and minimalism to draw you into each scene. Sped-up montages and even PowerPoint-styled transitions during the epilogue at Venice. Brady shows that he is no stranger to trying all the tricks in the filmmakers manual and giving the film the artistic touch it needs to tell its sweeping story.
But none of this would work if it wasn’t for the cast surpassing all expectations to bring this to life and provide the emotionality it deserves. With Adrien Brody giving a powerful performance and his most realised since his Oscar-winning role in The Pianist, he may just be overdue for a second. Playing the Hungarian war survivor with fierceness and guilt that can easily overwhelm a regular actor, yet Adrien manages to harness his own life and impart that strength and conviction in his character’s hopeless journey.
Guy Pearce has always been a great actor, ever since the days of Memento and L.A. Confidential, but he has always gone under the radar. Not a recipient of a single Oscar nomination says a lot about his underrated perception in Hollywood’s rosters of great actors. Yet Pearce in this film is an undeniably towering presence, unlike any role he’s played before as a conniving, vain man riddled with obsession and morally bankrupt. He is a scene stealer and simultaneously improves Adrien’s own performance, which speaks to their captivating on-screen chemistry. It just might be time at last for Pearce to receive his first nomination.
But it may just be Felicity Jones that completes the film. She only arrives after the intermission, where she has focus throughout the 2nd half, but it feels as if she has been around throughout. Her absence only makes the heart grow fonder, and through her letters we see a gentle but vivacious woman filled with intellect and grace. Unbeknownst to the viewer, an intellect who specialises in foreign affairs as a journalist. Details kept by Lazlo for reasons only known to him. Perhaps his desire to compartmentalise the forced separation and keep Erzsebet close to his chest rendered him unwilling to reveal himself.
Felicity Jones manages to transform this mystery and provide the film with the self-awareness and reckoning it deserves. Giving the film the heart it needs and taking it to a new level. Many of the scenes between each other erupted with intensity, intimacy, and humanity. Whether it is the dinner table argument at the end or the lovemaking scenes scattered throughout, it is hard not to feel so invested in these characters’ lives and get caught up in the labyrinthian tragedy. The epilogue closes this off with a dark reminder of history’s conceit and what becomes of those that choose to fight against their oppressors and forge their own place in time.
Overall, The Brutalist is a medium-defining work of cinema that promises a new future for filmmakers. A bonafide masterpiece that feels like it was filmed in another era. A testament to its authentic presentation and ambitious scope. It tells a tale all too familiar in cinema but emphasises that it is never too late to reckon with your own place in this world and carve out your own legacy. Budgets can no longer be an excuse for studios if they know what to do with it. It has been compared to The Godfather and There Will Be Blood, which are accurate reflections of the scale and personal tale of ambition, but Corbet manages to carve a different path built on memorialising the past and how it haunts those who try to survive it against all odds.
Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones all deliver career best performances and deserve praise as the award season continues but it is Brady Corbet who makes this film with his singular vision that successfully transforms a tale as old as time into a timeless story for the ages.
The Brutalist is out in UK and worldwide cinemas from 24 January 2025
