Movie Review: The Brutalist

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

A brilliant film

This movie follows the story of Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian architect who immigrates to the U.S. after World War 2. While this movie has a lot to say and a well written story, what really makes it stand out is the complexity of the main character. Here is a man that is full of contradictions. He is a deeply sympathetic character that has a good heart and looks out for others. Yet he can also be selfish, cruel, a drug addict and a bit of a womanizer. Still every contradiction in this character's personality perfectly fits together to create a real and complex portrait of a human being. Because of this we are drawn into this character and everything around him. We not only care about him, but we are drawn to his complexities in a way that simplicity makes us fixated with everything going on around him. This is all boosted by an incredibly performance by Adrian Brody. He becomes this character in a way that seems like he is not acting but has rather transformed into someone else. 

This is a movie with a whole lot to say. While many films have a hard time giving truly intelligent commentary on one subject, this film provides brilliant insight into many subjects. The movie comments on the immigrant experience, racism (both causal and not so causal), classism, drug addiction, the importance of art, the cost of being an artist, whether the ends always justify the means, religion, Zionism, the American Dream and post-World War 2 America. It tackles each of these subjects in a completely believable way that never feels forced into the story. Not only does this commentary come naturally from the story but what it has to say will leave you thinking long after the film is finished. The storyline itself is also very intelligently written. While the story may seem at first glance as your typical Amercian Dream storyline, there is much more to it than this. I do not want to give anything away but little in this movie works out the way you think it is going to. 

This film is made in VistaVision (if you wish to delve into what VistaVision is, I highly recommend this article) and the look of this movie makes you wish more films today were made in this way. This is an absolutely beautiful movie to look at and many of the images will stay in your mind long after the credits stop rolling. Yet all of these visuals help the story rather than distract from them. This film also uses an overture and an intermission to help it feel like an old school movie epic. These devices work perfectly, and this movie does truly feel larger than life in a way few films do anymore.  

However the best thing I can say about this movie is that though it runs for three and a half hours, I was never once bored or anything less than completely captivated. This is a true feat that would make this a must-see on its own.