A Reel Review: THE BRUTALIST

The style of Brutalist architecture is defined as minimalist constructions and designs that showcase the bare building materials, favoring structural elements over decorative design. On the surface, that doesn’t seem like an exciting plot for a movie…but don’t bother to tell that to director Brady Corbet and his towering masterpiece, THE BRUTALIST. 

 

Spanning over 30 years, THE BRUTALIST begins just after WWII, with Hungarian-Jewish architect Lazlo Toth (Adrien Brody), immigrating to America while his wife Erzebet (Felicity Jones), and orphaned niece are left behind. While Lazlo struggles with bigotry, work, drug addiction, and bringing his family to America, he is hired by wealthy industrialist Harrison (Guy Pearce), to design and construct an ambitious community center in Philadelphia.

 

Written and directed by Brady Corbet, THE BRUTALIST is nothing short of epic; spanning three decades of Toth’s life, with the bulk of it centered around Harrison’s massive community center, which is intended to tower over a rural area of Philly. For Lazlo it’s a constant uphill battle as he clashes with traditional American designers who are rooted in their old ways and tight budgets. Lazlo also deals with bigotry from all angles, including from Harrison’s own family. Things get complicated when Lazlo’s wife eventually makes it America, who arrives with her own health problems. 

 

Through Lazlo’s struggle, Corbet dives into the mythos of the American dream, exposing the toll it takes and the necessary blood to get there. Corbet explores themes of art vs. profit, the difficulty immigrants face being accepted into American culture, and the blurred line between ambition and greed. The scale here is massive, but keeps us intimate with Lazlo. There is a ton of film here, and gives more than enough material for discussions. 

 

Corbet shoots and edits an incredible looking film. Shot in the VistaVision process and cameras, THE BRUTALIST looks stunning in every frame. Some long tracking shots are breathtaking; the opening sequence of Lazlo arriving via ship to New York is awe-inspiring. The score by Daniel Blumberg is outstanding, and film uses popular music from each time period very well. 

 

Acting is tremendous. Adrien Brody puts in a career-best in the first 15 minutes, and that’s just a warmup for what is to come later. Guy Pearce is a little hammy in places, but overall comes out of this as an unexpected, dastardly villain. Felicity Jones also puts in a career best and nearly steals the show. The rest of the cast, including Jonathan Hyde, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, and Stacy Martin are all excellent. 

 

At 215 minutes (plus an intermission), THE BRUTALIST is an experience; one of those cinematic events that hangs with us and demands reflection. Much like the style of architecture that Lazlo favors, THE BRUTALIST gets to the bare structure of America and humanity; favoring their bare materials over any sort of dressings. And like any great building, it stands tall. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it