Among the Beetlejuices, the Babygirls and the swathe of movie stars choking the Lido during the Venice Film Festival so far, one film has emerged from slightly under the radar as the critics’ darling: Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.
While not devoid of a sprinkle of showbiz buzz itself due to both Corbet’s award-winning past at Venice and a cast led by Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones, the film is knocking people’s socks off like no other movie shown yet.
The Brutalist has been hailed ‘a masterpiece’, ‘a triumph’ and ‘era-defining’, and it received a 13-minute standing ovation – but can it possibly live up to such dizzying praise?
In short, pretty much.
Brody leads the cast as László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish immigrant who leaves behind the horrors of his past in post-World War Two Europe for a new life in America.
A trained architect of some repute, László nevertheless experiences poverty and indignity – at one point shovelling coal – as he struggles to gain a foothold in the US, initially helped along by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola) who emigrated years prior.
Struggling with pain and a dangerous addiction, László also waits to be reunited with his wife Erzsébet (Jones), from whom he was separated during the Holocaust.
Everything seems almost unrelentingly bleak until a chance meeting with the enigmatic and very wealthy businessman Harrison Lee Van Buren (Pearce).
His offer of a contact – and powerful connections – appears to be the perfect answer to all of László’s hardships.
The Brutalist follows László’s life over 30 years, reading (or rather, watching) like an historical epic take on the American dream so many sought to follow.
It’s also an American epic, given its complex and knotty depiction of family, friendships and love over the backdrop of massive societal changes during the twentieth century, like a cinematic version of an Arthur Miller stage play.
The film has elsewhere been compared with the There Will Be Blood and The Godfather, but it also struck me as reminiscent of the 1950s epics such as Giant – and not just because of its nostalgic use of VistaVision or an intermission.
Clearly though too, Corbet shows he will do as he wants from the start when he undercuts the beginnings of a bombastic overture with the sound of screaming and an interrogation.
It’s a film that feels rife with desperate pain – but not in an overplayed way. The Brutalist is messy and complicated, just as its characters are shades of grey too, making it even more compelling to watch.
Brody’s László’s is hopeful and driven but selfish and self-obsessed, seemingly powered by the hate and dismissal he feels from others. The star already has his Oscar from over 20 years ago, when he won best actor aged 29 for The Pianist. However, it is this which will be his career-defining performance, filled with rage, passion and helplessness. He has also never been more devastating than when a single tear trickles down his cheek as Erzsébet tries to make love to him.
And speaking of her, it feels like British actress Jones is finally having her moment too, with a complex role that puts her talents on display in a way she’s rarely had a chance to do before. Guy Pearce – who can delightfully swing from a returning cameo in Neighbours to this future awards season favourite – is also fantastically dubious as the temperamental Van Buren, a meaty, murky part for which he truly rises to the occasion.
There’s Joe Alwyn too as his spoiled son Harry Lee, graduating from the dependable but small supporting turns he’s clocked in in a run of high-profile films (Kinds of Kindness, The Favourite, Mary Queen of Scots) to something that’s more substantial.
Throughout its whopping 215-minute runtime, The Brutalist follows some of the beats you’d expect of an historical piece, while also managing to do completely its own thing – whether that’s with soundtracking or off-kilter shots or how long it lingers on visual motifs like roads and railways.
As Corbet insisted at the Venice press conference, he is not a filmmaker producing movies that ‘fit inside a box’. He also meant it when he said he and his team were doing ‘everything we’re not allowed to do’ with The Brutalist, infusing it with the feel of prestige pictures from 70 years ago as well as the most modern of touches.
While The Brutalist hits you over the head with its emotional heft, it is also unrelenting, challenging, dense and – obviously – long: you’ve got to work for it.
This seems a particular gamble in a world of TikTok and short-form content, but the ambition, artistry and quality is undeniable, as is Corbet’s vision on what is only his third film (co-written with wife Mona Fastvold). The director has truly arrived as an auteur, and even if The Brutalist might not be for everyone (it’s enthralling rather than entertaining), you cannot help but be impressed by its scope.
Over three and a half hours of sweeping history, struggle and heartbreak, the urgency of its story never once lets up. Combined with several powerhouse performances, not least of all from an electric Adrien Brody, The Brutalist is sure to be 2024’s film to beat at the Oscars.
The Brutalist premiered at Venice Film Festival on September 1. Its release date is yet to be announced.
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