How much time do you need to tell someone’s story? Especially if that someone is an exiled architect who flees post-war Europe with his family to make it in the blossoming New World. Actor-turned-director Brady Corbet (Vox Lux, The Childhood of a Leader) has decided that he needed three hours and a half. In The Brutalist, his new acclaimed film starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn, we follow the life of a visionary architect who arrives in the United States to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage.
Premiering in the latest edition of the Venice Film Festival in September, The Brutalist stars Hungarian architect Lászlo Toth (a fictional character) as he aims to rise from the ashes and build a name for himself in the US. Settling his new nest in Pennsylvania, he starts working for the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren, who quickly realises about Lászlo’s innate talent for building and constructing. But things aren’t as easy as they seem.
Brady Corbet won the Silver Lion to Best Direction, an accolade that cements him as someone to keep an eye on after the mixed critiques he had received for his two previous movies, which divided both the audience and the specialised media. Described by various film critics as ‘monumental’, ‘colossal’, and ‘overwhelming’, it seems like The Brutalist, distributed by A24, is going to be a hit on the big screen. There isn’t a release date yet, although it’s expected to hit theatres in December of this year.