February 25, 2025
Separated from his wife Erzebet (Felicity Jones) and niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy) during World War II in Hungary, Jewish Holocaust survivor László Tóth (Adrien Brody) was able to board a ship bound for the United States. He connected with his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), and helped out with his furniture business in Philadelphia, Miller and Sons, by designing his own unique style of furniture with metallic supports.
This led him to be commissioned by Harry (Joe Alwyn) to renovate his father's study into a library as a surprise. However, when the father -- industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) -- came home earlier than expected and saw them working, the elder man was incensed at them for "tearing up" his house. Laszlo was fired and ordered to leave at once, without being paid the $2000 agreed upon for materials and services.
This 215-minute epic biographical film is the third feature film directed by former actor Brady Corbet. It told about the roller-coaster life experiences of noted Hungarian architect Laszlo Toth and how this immigrant rose from nothing to achieve his American dream -- a story that spanned 33 years. The film started with an Overture, then was told into two parts ("The Enigma of Arrival" and "The Hard Core of Beauty"), plus an Epilogue. There was even a 15-minute intermission, like other epic films of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Adrien Brody's László Tóth really went through a gamut of mental torment and drug abuse, the stuff Best Actor awards are made of. Felicity Jones was practically a co-lead in the second half as Toth's strong-willed supportive wife. Their strong accents and prideful psyches may occasionally be off-putting, but Brody and Jones fully embodied their talents and flaws. Guy Pearce finally gets nominated for an Oscar as Harrison Van Buren, a handsome and charming Anglo-Saxon aristocrat with a shocking perversion of superiority within.
The title word "Brutalist" refers to the architectural style that Toth espoused. This style was no-frills and non-nostalgic, with simple straight lines, angular shapes, minimalist constructions, unpainted or monochrome colors. This likely also referred to the brutality Toth had experienced during World War 2 and in America, worse at the hands of people whom he thought were his friends and benefactors. The Vista Vision cinematography, musical score, and production design of this film also reflected this imposing and heavy spirit. 7/10
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