The Brutalist (2024) Review

“There’s a son of a bitch here to see you”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

They say that pursuing the American Dream can change you, but there’s never a straight answer on whether it’ll be for better or worse once the journey is over. That realization comes to mind when watching The Brutalist.


PLOT


Through an overture, the film begins in 1947 and follows Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust Survivor László Tóth immigrate to the United States.

 
Part 1: The Enigma of Arrival shows him travel to Philadelphia to reunite with his cousin Attila who has assimilated and converted to Catholicism. Despite this, he is relieved knowing László’s wife Erzsébet and their niece Zsófia are still alive after being separated. After offering him a position in his furniture business, they get approached by a young man, Harry Lee Van Buren, who wants to surprise his wealthy industrialist father Harrison with a renovated library in his mansion in Doylestown. When they get to work on it, the latter does not feel pleased of the surprise and chooses to fire them both without pay. Not only does Attila blame his cousin, but uses this as an excuse to kick him out for turning down advances made by his wife Audrey. Three years later, László would become a heroin addict and work as a laborer, living in charity housing where he would an African American named Gordon who is a single father. Harrison would track him down to apologize for firing him and pays him in full due to have just coping with the loss of his mother. He invites him to a party where he hires him to create an entire community center in honor of his mom, The Van Buren Institute. All parts of the center will include: a chapel, gymnasium, library and theater. When living on site, László works immediately and gets to hire Gordon before getting arrangement for his wife and niece to be emigrated. 


Part 2: The Hard Core of Beauty shows Erzsébet and Zsófia reunite with László by 1953, but the former now suffers from osteoporosis that makes her wheelchair while the niece is unable to speak. Construction on the institute has gone awry that László clashes with multiple contractors and consultants that they depart from Harrison in effort to stay on budget. Laszlo does offer to keep working for free for the costs to be made up, but Harrison chooses to fire him and abandon the project as he barely finds him tolerable at this point. By '58, László works as a draftsman and Erzsebet works for a newspaper. Zsófia has regained her voice and now with child, she wants to move to Jerusalem with her husband Binyamin. Harrison reaches out to rehire Tóth and resume the project but when they go to Carara to purchase marble, they get a drunk and Van Buren does the unthinkable by raping him. In doing so, he calls him and his leeches that invite their own persecution. Upon returning to the States does László get impulsive and fires Gordon on site. He even gets to lament Erzsébet that they're really welcome the way they wished. After she survives a use of his heroin to soothe her own pain, they agree in joining Zsófia to Jerusalem. Before doing so, she calls out Harrison in front of his family for what he did to her husband before Harry drags her out. Just as she departs, he and his sister Maggie (Stacy Martin) begin searching for their dad all over the institute who vanishes upon exposure.


Epilogue: The First Architecture Biennale takes place in 1980, where a now elderly widowed László attends an exhibition showcasing his past projects including the Van Buren Institute that was completed in ‘73. At the exhibition does Zsófia give a speech of his work implying it was all designed to process his trauma and the film ends with her reciting a phrase he used to tell her: “No matter what the others try and sell you, it is the destination, not the journey”.


THOUGHTS


Looking back, I wasn’t sure what to expect next from Brady Corbet when he last helmed the musical drama Vox Lux. With that being said, it was all a surprise to say how floored with this 3hr+ feature. The second it opens with a skewed angle view of Lady Liberty, I knew it was gonna be a surreal experience. That certainly was the case with Lol Crawley using Vista-vision to make something tragically beautiful. You’ll even be stunned with all of Judy Becker’s production design full of fantastically made landscapes that match László‘s vision throughout, as well as match the 50s aesthetic. With also the addition of a compelling score by Daniel Blumberg, I think there is a strong attachment by audiences to this film overtime because Corbet and cowriter Mona Fastvold are able to boldly say we must maintain our humanity when wanting to establish your legacy otherwise the obsession to create perfection can irreversibly destroy you within. In opposite sides of the coin, we get a fantastic ensemble to get the message across. The biggest complaint I can commonly have with others is that it was unnecessary for editor Dávid Janscó to use the AI software Respeecher, to enhance the actors’ accents, because that just implies you don’t trust the talent to begin with. Make no mistake however that it doesn’t really take away the work the cast brought to the table day in and out. Knowing the use of a controversial digital tool, you’re gonna be asking yourself why does Adrien Brody deserve his second Lead Actor Oscar while others in the same category of the 97th Ceremony didn’t need it. In my perspective, the actor makes László relatable for wanting the freedom to reinvent himself with his gift, but also feels constantly held back by capitalism where he won’t be truly appreciated for what he can do. He just wants to survive with what he knows and his optimism just constantly declines knowing he’s surrounded by people who slowly embrace their true intent on greed & prejudice. You already have that level of devastation seeing Alesandro Nivola portray Attila as one who just feels so jealous envious that he’d rather push his family away just upon reunion, but then Guy Pearce just revs up those feelings in his first Oscar nomination as Harrison. At first you kinda brush off his attitude when he first meets László because you can expect that from any businessman or just relate to how unpredictable grief makes us feel. In fact, you accept some kind of sincerity from him in being interested and fascinated in one’s vision, seeing the beauty in any work. He felt connecting with other people more talented made him feel superior towards everyone else, especially the idea to navigate László by hiring him. But the longer you’re with him, the more you accept he’s no different than other narcissistic bigots that’ll look down on everyone else. He’s already a scum to think like that, but stooping to rape him only made him his own worst enemy and by the time he got exposed, his world fell apart in the blink of an eye that him vanishing can hint him taking his life in shame. On top of that, having Joe Alwyn make a pompous son out of Harry who continues that imposing attitude towards the innocent like Zsófia does reflect how younger generations fail to break the cycle of manipulation left by predecessors. Sadly, cutting ties with the Van Burens did not solve nor change anything that happened to László. While it was nice to see Isaach de Bankolé make a caring friend as Gordon who related to the inner struggle, he only made it so far because his heart and foundation did the same from afar before reuniting. Felicity Jones was truly fantastic as Erzsébet in her second Oscar nomination because even though she’s physically broken, her spirit is strong as she disassociates from her trauma in order to be optimistic yet remain pragmatic when picking up on how the Van Burens approached her. László didn’t even have to say a thing, but she just knew from perception that Harrison wronged him and if she didn’t confront him, they wouldn’t be able to move on. Once she passed overtime, her husband was permanently broken because all he could wish was for more time with her without the need to over-focus with his own success. In the given time he had left, all he can hope for is that he still got to pass on with what he got to give. In conclusion, The Brutalist is an ideal Best Picture nominee for being blunt in expressing the reality that surrounds us in true perception from one another. If those are the kind of movies you’re into, see this now.