The Brutalist movie review: Great, unusual story of post World War II America

The Brutalist is an ambitious post-war American epic

The Brutalist
Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé
Director: Brady Corbet
Rating: 3.5/5
Runtime: 215 min.

An ambitious post-war American epic, ‘The Brutalist' with a 70mm format is a memorable immigrant experience. It's a post-WWII horror. Adrien Brody is Laszlo Toth, a jewish architect who escaped the clutches of bloody Europe, and hopes to shape his dreams in a free America. ‘The Brutalist,' much like the architectural style it's named after, is imposing, cold. The film, which chronicles the decades-spanning career of an ambitious architect, aims for epic grandeur. The opening sequence is in fact evocative of a hope born of ambition. We see Toth rush out of a crowd into sunlight and juxtaposed against that is an inverted Statue of liberty. Right from the start Brady Corbet is telling us where he intends to take this story to. But he is also smart enough to keep us guessing.

Toth's life is a journey of horrors: existential, professional, familial, intimate. He is striving to achieve something by losing sight of the fact that his very life is in peril. The film basically details the triumphs and tribulations of the man.

The Brutalist is full of surprises. Interesting character arcs that you don't expect. The characters reveal themselves in subtle, incremental ways.

The film has a striking visual style, period details are recreated meticulously with a strong commitment to aesthetics. The film boasts of a complicated, multi-stranded plot, and it's not an easy narrative to figure. The direction is grand, making this movie feel like an epic - even the interpersonal scenes are done well. The story tackles many serious topics in an artsy way, with building tension and edifying pathos. The movie displays the hardships of trying to live the ‘American Dream.' The dialogue is profound; there's symbolism in the sequences and the hard topics like addiction, trauma, and the immigrant experience the movie tackles, show us the negative side of living the ‘American Dream.'

Adrien Brody profoundly displays the trauma and addictions this character goes through, Felicity Jones gives a real feel to the hardships her character has to go through to come to America, Guy Pearce puts on a truly commanding performance, Joe Alwyn, Isaach de Bankolé , Alessandro Nivola and the rest of the cast give a good account of themselves. The background score aids in elevating the inherent drama. Cinematography is artistic but the editing could be better.

The film clearly prioritizes visual style. It is a beautifully constructed testament to the fact that buildings, however impressive, fail to mask a hollow core. The film is brutal in length, at 215 min runtime. It's really not possible to engage with a story for that long but this film manages to steer the course in such a way that even when there are boring consequential moments, the screenplay manages to spring a surprise. It's a great, unusual story brought together by languorous filmmaking, profound writing, and an incredible performance from Adrien Brody.