The Brutalist (18)

Hungarian-Jewish architect Laszlo Toth is separated from his wife Erzsebet and orphaned niece Zsofia as he flees the Nazi extermination. He arrives in 1947 Manhattan then travels south-west to stay with his cousin Attila, who owns a furniture store in Philadelphia with wife Audrey that would benefit from Laszlo's design aesthetic. Privileged scion Harry Lee Van Buren hires Attila and Laszlo to renovate the library of his family estate as a surprise birthday present for his industrialist father.

LondonNet Film Review

The Brutalist (18) Film Review from LondonNet

Taking its title from a post-war architecture movement that made extensive use of concrete, director and co-writer Brady Corbet’s dramatic distortion of the American Dream is a monumental technical achievement. ours of painstaking design, ingenuity and effort have been lavished on The Brutalist, recreating 1940s Philadelphia on location in Hungary with a relatively modest 10 million US dollars (£8.2 million) budget. The bravura work of cinematographer Lol Crawley honours the lines and geometry of the architecture, capturing scenes from disorienting angles like an off-kilter Statue of Liberty welcoming refugees to New York…

Corbet is likely win Best Director at this year’s Academy Awards and some of his behind-the-camera collaborators may also be honoured for their gargantuan efforts. However, it is possible to admire the meticulous construction but have limited emotional engagement with the finished product. That is the fate that befalls The Brutalist for me. “It is the destination, not the journey,” reflects one character. On that basis, the final destination of Corbet’s vision leaves me with awestruck reverence for the bold, ballsy ambition and detachment from the characters and their predominantly grim fates. Bookended by an overture and epilogue spanning 1947 to 1980, The Brutalist is divided into two chapters with a 15-minute intermission, replete with onscreen countdown to ensure audience members desperate for the washroom or concessions do not dilly dally.

Hungarian-Jewish architect Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) is separated from his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) and orphaned niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy) as he flees the Nazi extermination. He arrives in 1947 Manhattan then travels south-west to stay with his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), who owns a furniture store in Philadelphia with wife Audrey (Emma Laird) that would benefit from Laszlo’s design aesthetic. Privileged scion Harry Lee Van Buren (Joe Alwyn) hires Attila and Laszlo to renovate the library of his family estate as a surprise birthday present for his industrialist father, Harrison (Guy Pearce). The commission ends in acrimony.

Single father Gordon (Isaach de Bankole), Laszlo’s only friend, rescues him from a drug-fuelled abyss and the men exist hand-to-mouth in a shelter for the unhoused until fate smiles fleetingly on the architect. He is warmly embraced by Harrison to oversee the construction of a community centre in memory of his late mother. The businessman promises to leverage powerful contacts to expedite immigration papers for Erzsebet and Zsofia. However, heir apparent Harry is openly disdainful of the Toths invasion: “We tolerate you.”

Co-written by Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist is a sprawling meditation on the immigrant experience, corruptive power, trauma and the durability of the human spirit. Brody’s tireless lead performance as a visionary at the mercy of his ego is the filler when cracks appear in the storytelling. Composer Daniel Blumberg’s intentionally discordant soundtrack repeatedly hints at these fissures behind striking yet austere facades.

– Jo Planter