The Brutalist
When I think of words to describe this film, the word which comes to mind is towering. This truly feels like an epic, a rarity in cinema when not attached to a franchise and even more rare is to have something of this grandeur done on such a small budget. I have no idea how something this staggering was made with such a little budget. Not only does this look better than a majority of films on offer in cinemas whose budgets are massive but it’s also more compelling.
The first half of this film is just gorgeous, it’s quite simply the journey of somebody seeking out the American dream and it’s endlessly compelling, well it’s so good that when the intermission hits I was kinda disappointed I had to wait to find out what was gonna happen. I weirdly think it disrupted the flow a little.
What follows is perhaps a slightly less impactful second half, but I do disagree with the notion that it’s markedly worse, it breaks down the disillusion set up in the first half perfectly and shockingly it flies by, by the time it ends I was confused how the massive runtime had already gone.
The film really wonderfully is an encompassing insight into the American dream and the hope the land offered people in that time, and sadly the lies and corruption which plagued the land. It’s also just a gorgeous story of a man’s journey to improve his life, and falling to the trappings which were on offer to him.
It’s also just gorgeous thanks to the wonderful Vistavision in which the film is shot on. The shaky cinematography really places you in the shoes of an immigrant experiencing the whirlwind of America for the first time. Paired with the gorgeous Vistavision, you get this blend of beauty and fear that underpin the entire movie. What a wonderful choice to have lots of gorgeous long shots as it let the performances shine.
The film is filled with a myriad of great performances, Jones and Alwyn are wonderful, Guy Pierce expertly plays this millionaire from old money whose exterior, which is nice, is a facade for something dark underneath. However this movie is really helmed by Adrian Brody, he is magnetic and dynamic in this movie in a way that draws you in and doesn’t let you go. It’s always the biggest compliment when a character just feels like a real human and in this movie you feel your witnessing his story and that this man is a real person. He’s flawed and nuanced and just feels real.
Corbet’s exploration of the immigrant experience is towering and feels important, I do think the film has some issues in its editing in places and I really don’t know how to feel about its ending but it’s kind of inexcusable to call this anything but an epic.
EDIT: Having thought about this film more the second half has really clicked into place, and specifically the ending. The ending seems to want to repackage the American Dream as something which is still desired, the final statement is both America trying to sell the American Dream to hopefuls, and Zsofia having to distill Lazlo's life in a neat bow.
We are privy to witnessing how messy and horrible the journey was for Lazlo to achieve the successes he did. He may have achieved the American Dream but at what cost. As he sits in a room, unable to speak, his wife passed, and his most acclaimed piece of work being named after a man who raped him, the last line stings - was it all worth it? For the film to bookend with Zsofia as well, it feels like she is narrating this story. Perhaps that's why the first half does feel more rose-coloured as she has only learned about Lazlo's life through letters and in the second half when she's arrived, she sees America for what it really is.