Miss Flicks

The Brutalist: Film Review

Critics have been raving about The Brutalist ever since the Venice Film Festival in September and I’ve finally had a chance to see what all the fuss is about.

This old-fashioned 3.5-hour epic, directed by Brady Corbet, stars Adrien Brody as László Tóth, a Hungarian Jewish architect who moves to America after World War II in search of a new life. After initially starting out with his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) and his furniture business, László befriends wealthy businessman Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who commissions him to build a gigantic community centre near his home in Pennsylvania.

This is bold and ambitious filmmaking. Corbet and his co-writer Mona Fastvold have crafted a rich and complex story about the American Dream, capitalism and the treatment of immigrants. It delves into these big themes using an intimate story about László and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), who joins him later. They often feel like they don’t belong and that nobody wants them there. Van Buren and his children Harry (Joe Alwyn) and Maggie (Stacy Martin) are welcoming at first but you get the sense that they could switch at any moment.

I must admit that I struggled with the first half. It is long and slow but it’s building the foundations for the big plot developments to happen in the second half (after the built-in 15-minute intermission). The second is where things really happen – László’s wife and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) join him, the build goes over time and budget and s-t hits the fan. I found this half the most exciting and shocking but also insanely frustrating.

Here’s the biggest downside to the film: It is building to a moment that should have been so satisfying but the way it’s filmed prevents it from being so. I didn’t get any emotional payoff or catharsis. The ending is murky and unclear and I had questions! After investing so much time and energy into this story, I felt pretty annoyed about that. It then emotionally shafts us by jumping to an epilogue set in 1980 that is a total vibe shift.

There is a lot to digest here and after thinking about it for several days, I’ve come to appreciate it more. The performances are extraordinary across the board (Brody and Jones in particular) and the sheer scope of it is astonishing. I’m amazed that Corbet made this epic in 33 days and for under $10 million. I still won’t forgive the end of the second chapter and I don’t think it truly needed 3.5 hours but I respected everything else about it.

The Brutalist is a staggeringly ambitious and singular tale about the American Dream and how it can build people up and destroy them just as quickly.

In cinemas from Friday 24th January