Rating: ★★★½☆ (3.5/5 Stars)
Released 12-20-2024
Watched 02-24-2025
Reviewed 02-24-2025
Watched in the theater Using Cinemark Movie Club (Oscar MovieWeek Festival Pass)
"After all, it is the destination that is more important than the journey."
Writer and director Brady Corbet delivers a visually stunning and emotionally harrowing experience with The Brutalist, an epic historical drama that delves into the immigrant experience, artistic ambition, and the dark underbelly of power and privilege. Clocking in at over three and a half hours with a much-needed fifteen-minute intermission at the one hour and forty-minute mark, this is a film that demands patience, engagement, and endurance. It is certainly not for everyone and its subject matter ensures that it is far from light viewing.
The film follows László Toth, played by Adrien Brody, a Hungarian-Jewish architect who arrives in America after World War II with dreams of shaping the new world with his vision. Alongside his wife Erzsébet, played by Felicity Jones, he navigates the complexities of post-war America, where opportunity is often entwined with exploitation. As László struggles to balance artistic integrity with financial survival, he becomes entangled with a powerful and enigmatic patron played by Guy Pearce, whose influence opens doors but also comes at a devastating cost.
The story examines the intersection of art and commerce, exploring how creative vision is shaped, diluted, or even destroyed by those with power and money. The film also looks at how trauma, particularly from war and displacement, leaves a lasting mark on people, their art, and the spaces they create. Corbet draws parallels between post-war psychology and post-war architecture, showing how both attempt to construct something stable out of destruction yet often end up cold and unyielding.
The film does not shy away from brutal realities. Scenes of male-on-male rape, prostitution, drug use, and overdose add to the weight of the narrative, making it clear that The Brutalist is not for the faint of heart or for children. These moments, while never gratuitous, are deeply unsettling, highlighting the cost of ambition in a world where the powerful take what they want regardless of the consequences.
Yet despite its relentless bleakness, the film ultimately finds resolution. László’s journey is one of suffering, but in the end, his work stands as a testament to his resilience. The film’s final message that the destination is more important than the journey offers a bitter but fitting conclusion reinforcing the idea that while struggle defines us it is the lasting impact of our work that matters most.
Adrien Brody delivers a deeply internalized performance, capturing both the quiet dignity and the simmering pain of a man who must compromise his ideals to survive. Felicity Jones is equally compelling as Erzsébet her presence grounding the film with emotional depth. Guy Pearce, as always, brings a chilling complexity to his role, making his character both a benefactor and a manipulator, a man who sees people as tools for his own ambitions.
Corbet’s direction is meticulous, with precise and deliberate visual storytelling. Every frame feels like an architectural composition echoing the film’s themes of construction and deconstruction. The cinematography, with its stark contrasts and imposing structures, enhances the film’s sense of oppression and grandeur.
With ten Oscar nominations, The Brutalist is undoubtedly an achievement in filmmaking. However, its length and unrelenting tone will alienate many viewers. This is not a film for casual audiences or those looking for traditional entertainment. It is a slow burn that requires patience and willingness to engage with its complex themes.
For those who appreciate art-house cinema and historical dramas that challenge the viewer, The Brutalist is a must-watch. For everyone else, it may prove to be an endurance test rather than a rewarding experience.
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