The Brutalist
The Brutalist
Escaping post-war Europe, a visionary architect (Adrien Brody) arrives in America to rebuild his life. On his own in a strange new country, a wealthy industrialist recognizes his talent. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost...
rg9400 reviewedMarch 1, 2025
The Brutalist is a fascinating movie, equal parts inspiring and frustrating. Told in two halfs split by an intermission, its runtime is almost 3 hours and 30 minutes, a staggering epic scale. The two halves feel almost like different movies. The first half is an intimate story, tightly centered on László Tóth as an immigrant and refugee who comes to America and finds an opportunity to showcase his architectural skills, a juxtaposition of a man searching for the American Dream while coming face to face with entrenched old money and American Capitalism. While this section of the movie could certainly have been edited down, it feels engrossing because the storytelling has a sense of clarity and purpose throughout, methodically building up the character and showcasing his ups and downs. There are moments where this sweeping and triumphant score will thunder over stunning imagery whether it be a montage, a tracking shot of a road, or strangely angled views of architectural marvels. From the opening sequence to one of the best title cards I have ever seen all the way to the intermission, I was fully convinced I was watching a modern classic.
Then we get to the second half. To be honest, I still don't know how to fully talk about this portion of the movie. It introduces new characters, radically changing the dynamic of the movie so far. More importantly, it starts skipping across time compared to the much narrower focus. I almost want to say the movie starts to lose coherence. László's motivations start to feel more opaque. Where the first half of the movie seemed to be a case study in the immigrant experience, this half feels all together different. I was not expecting the movie to continue sort of its upward trajectory in terms of the story, but this feels far more of a jagged drop than a smooth crescendo and downfall, best represented by the score which shifts away from this staggering and thunderous style to something far more ominous. With roughly an hour left in the runtime, the movie has a bit of a time jump. This is when I feel it completely jumps off the rails. It suddenly becomes all about one event, an event that feels completely out of place in the context of the rest of the movie. After this happens, the entire story becomes centered around the aftermath of said event, and none of the characters, their relationships, or themes have a chance to reach their concluding parts. Indeed, Part 2 suddenly ends after this event reaches its peak, leaving me so utterly confused and baffled as to what the story was trying to do. It also has some troubling Zionist propaganda.
Then the movie has an epilogue. And that epilogue is honestly brilliant. I loved it. It ends the movie by clarifying its thematic underpinnings, showcasing what it was trying to illustrate. However, this has absolutely nothing to do with The Event that I mentioned becomes the central focus of the last act of this movie. It's honestly so confusing to me because had the movie actually focused on what it is trying to say in its epilogue, I think it could have been a tour de force. To have it revealed what really motivated László Tóth after seeing how he approached his work for 3.5 hours...I get shivers how well it could have worked. Instead, the movie gets distracted and fails the landing.
Throughout the movie though, the cinematography remains top tier despite the bloated runtime. Even in its confusing second half, you still get some scenes set in this stunning Italian mountainside that took my breath away. When the score hits against these scenes, I was floored. Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce are both fantastic, the former especially showcasing this vulnerability and stubbornness so effortlessly. This movie had everything going for it, so to see it come apart due to a single decision feels like I witnissed a crime. Maybe one day I will understand what director Brady Corbert was going for. At this point though, it just seems like a massive missed opportunity.