• Release year: 2024
• Director: Brady Corbet.
• Producers: Brady Corbet, Nick Gordon, D. J. Gugenheim, Andrew Lauren, Trevor Matthews, Andrew Morrison, and Brian Young.
• Screenplay by: Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold.
• Cinematography by: Lol Crawley.
• Music by: Daniel Blumberg.

Shotgun Commentary: an interesting drama needlessly dragged-on.

Review

The Brutalist is exactly what comes to mind when you hear the words “catnip for Oscar-voters”. The same people who still don’t take horror seriously enough to give it a fair recognition in the big categories, inhale this type of features like a parched man would water in the middle of the desert. Anyone who is anyone in those awards loves Adrien Brody’s WWII suffering stories so, naturally, this film is a big contender.

Same old, same old

The feature follows László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a brutalist architect whose prolific career means absolutely nothing after the war, when he is forced to immigrate to the US and work for scraps. The story talks about his experience in the States from the moment he steps out of the boat, until the time he decides to leave it. With a small, needless addition, in which he is celebrated at the very end. The narrative is engaging, and about as dramatic as you expect a post-war Brody-protagonised film to be.

Brody is definitely not knew to the poor, unlucky man role whose life is destroyed by the war. As such, he delivers a flawless performance, almost as if he had played this role before… more than once… László is a likeable man until things begin to turn for the worst and his present trauma clashes with that of his past. This moment is pivotal in his development and in that of the movie, as the last hour of footage would make no sense without it.

Following Brody’s very comfortable decision of repeating a role is supporting actor Guy Pierce, a man who, surprising nobody, plays the evil guy in good guy disguise yet again. In his defence, some people in the audience were genuinely surprised to learn that his character was evil. Probably because they have never seen Guy Pierce in any movie ever… But maybe they were onto something when they cast him.

Crushing it

The absolute star of the show is Felicity Jones in her role as Erzsébet Tóth, László’s wife. She has significantly less screen time than the aforementioned actors, yet her talent is miles higher from theirs. Not because they are not good actors, but because her character is so outstanding that it makes any talented actress outshine all those around her. Jones doesn’t waste the opportunity, bringing her all to the role and winning a very deserved Oscar nomination for it.

Nevertheless, a great cast and a well-directed narrative aren’t all this film has to offer. One of its biggest attraction is, as you might imagine from the title, the aesthetics. Whether you like brutalism or not, you will greatly enjoy the cinematography of The Brutalist.

All shots are beautifully created and even more wonderfully edited, providing a carefully curated, delightfully creative product that shows as much care as László does his work. It is hard to make peace with the fact that the film is way over three hours even without counting the intermission, but truly there are no clear moments where you could edit things out. The pace does feel drawn out at times, especially during the second half, but not one moment is irrelevant.

The scenery, architecture and even colour palette of the characters’ clothes all work together to showcase an appealing story despite the tragedy and horrors. Events that are closely followed and enhanced by the score. A composition that accompanies the story as discreetly and elegantly as possible.

All in all, The Brutalist is a great movie. It is being slightly over-hyped, but it is a story worth seeing, even if you do it at home and during the course of a month. Jones’ performance and the visual storytelling are definitely worth that time of your life.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Never trust any character played by Guy Pierce.
• If you ever need to distract yourself, try to imagine Adrien Brody playing the role of a happy man. Not bittersweet happy, but unironically, unequivocably happy. That will keep your mind busy for longer than you’ll care to admit
• Brutalist buildings are durable, but so are cockroaches. Just a thought.

What’s your take? Have you watched The Brutalist? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀