The Brutalist

 

“Welcome to America.”

Immense, intense and monumental, The Brutalist is a cacophonous American epic that examines and deconstructs the immigrant dream and the power of architecture as a stark memorial to its designers and their contexts that’s powerful, brutal, harrowing and masterful with incredible performances and assured direction which combine to deliver a new cinematic classic of epic proportions.

Discussion Points:

I’m one who may be accused of hyperbole from time to time - so I mean this with as much sincerity as possible - I wonder if witnessing this film is comparable to watching The Godfather when it first came out? A sprawling American epic from a young up-and-coming auteur that immediately establishes itself as an undeniable entry into the American classic cinematic canon.  Brady Corbet’s sheer confidence and assured delivery is nothing short of astounding. This is a beast of a film, truly monumental, which makes sense given it’s about an architect who strives to build monuments to his own genius. Adrien Brody’s László Tóth, a fictional Hungarian-born Jewish architect is a fascinatingly complex man - driven by desire, haunted by failure, overshadowed by trauma. Guy Pearce is commanding as Harrison Van Buren whose wealth and status disguise a deeply disturbed turmoil. Felicity Jones is powerful as Tóth’s wife Erzsébet, whose wheelchair confinement limits none of her poise and intellect. I was genuinely mesmerised the entire behemoth of a runtime - all 3 hours 35 minutes! Whilst I think the first chapter is slightly stronger than the second - I was still left absolutely in awe (bar moments of harrowing stomach-wrenching turmoil). It’s also beautifully shot on an insanely small budget given the films production scope with massive brutalist sets. It’s certainly a film that will challenge, unsettle, provoke and disturb - but it’s also one that I think is a profoundly astute synthesis of the American dream in all its glory and greed.