By Robert Bellissimo
I think The Brutalist is a masterpiece.
Film critics and historians will be discussing this film for years to come. It offers plenty to dissect and it doesn’t lack an inch of substance. It certainly is one of the best films I’ve seen produced in the 21st century.
Is cinema dead? Not if Brady Corbet and his wife, Mona Fastvold, are making movies. The major Hollywood studios can keep making Marvel films if they want to. Leave the art of cinema to the independents and true filmmakers who have uncompromised visions and depth.
The Brutalist is an epic film which begins just after WWII. The film follows Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) who is arriving in New York City from Hungary. He is a Holocaust survivor in search of a new life and the American Dream. He’s a talented and ambitious architect who wants to leave a legacy. He makes his way to Philadelphia and stays with his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola), who has a successful furniture business. Attila tells him that his wife, Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) is still alive in Europe.
Brady Corbet said in an interview at TIFF that the film is about immigration. The movie is told in 3 parts. Each one shows the struggles Laszlo and Erzsebet face in America, such as anti-Semitism and drug addiction. Despite everything they face they decide to stay in America for many years, until finally deciding to leave.
The connections they do make wind up with them being discarded, from the likes of Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr. (Guy Pearce), and even Laszlo’s cousin, Attila, who has integrated into American society by marrying a Catholic woman and becoming one himself. Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr. is a wealthy industrialist who forms a strong bond with Laszlo and admires his talent. He treats Laszlo like a brother, but ultimately destroys him, changing his life forever.
The film really takes its time and breathes. Often when I watch movies with a thick plot, I find them too rushed and condensed. In this case, they took their time, exploring many themes and relationships with a great deal of depth.
The film was shot on VistaVision, which was developed in the 1950s. Hitchcock used it on films like Vertigo. Picture the famous image of Kim Novak looking at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The widescreen format allows filmmakers to capture landscapes and architecture, which The Brutalist does perfectly. Brutalist architecture is Laszlo’s speciality. The connection between Brutalist architecture and Laszlo is that people don’t like him or his work because he’s different. The anti-Semitism he faces is subtle and the film explores it in an entirely different way through architecture.
The Cinematographer (Lol Crawley) used low key lighting, which was perfect for the mood of the film. It looks like Neo-Noir with it’s dark images, yet it is shot poetically.
The entire cast are incredible. Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce are beyond praise. Other notable performances are from Joe Alwyn, Isaach De Bankole and Alessandro Nivola, to name a few.
Whatever you do, don’t watch this movie on a phone when it gets to streamers. This is a film that one needs to see in a cinema. Don’t miss it!
The Brutalist is in theatres now.
