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Join UsStar Cast: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn.
Director: Brady Corbet
What’s Good: The performances and technical prowess of the film are undeniable, making it something to behold, even if it will not do it for all audiences.
What’s Bad: The second half of the film loses steam as it enters more conventional territory and, for most of it, loses its most interesting conflict.
Loo Break: Some material conflicts in the second half can be used to take a break, but in general, very little serves no purpose in the film.
Watch or Not?: Yes, if you are a fan of filmmaking, then this is a must-watch, especially as it will compete in this year’s Academy Awards
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Theaters, VOD
Runtime: 215 Minutes.
User Rating:
Every once in a while, there comes a film that breaks conventions and goes against the flow in significant ways, and it is successful at doing it, knowing the rules and breaking them while leaving something new in its wake. The Brutalist is one such film, a bold picture directed by Brody Corbet, a young director who knows what he wants and understands cinematic language better than some of his older peers, resulting in a fantastic but still flawed piece of work.
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The Brutalist Movie Review: Script Analysis
As a piece of writing, The Brutalist conjures complex characters that feel real by allowing them to be a collection of contradictions and feelings that do not often connect, but if you put them all together, create something extraordinary. The characters search for the American Dream and will do anything to achieve it. Laszlo, our main character, is one person worth following, and as the film progresses, he becomes more interesting.
The same can be said for Guy Pearce’s character, who serves as a sort of opposite to Laszlo, a man with no artistic talents but a lot of passion to become one. This relationship becomes the film’s most essential and interesting point, a match of opposites. However, the film enters a more conventional and uninteresting space when it comes to its female characters.
The dynamic between the tortured artist and the woman behind the man has been depicted so many times that it is almost a cliché, and here, it brings the entire story to a halt. At least one of the central characters in the film is nothing more than a plot device that ends up being used in an epilogue that should not exist, as it makes everything too on the nose and too clear for its own good.
The film is long, but many scenes that could be considered filler in other films really have their space here, as without them, the entire point of the film would be gone. Vibes are truly important here, and so they justify themselves. However, it is clear that the second half of the film is weaker than the first, even though there are a couple of sequences that are truly masterful in the later half.
The Brutalist Movie Review: Star Performance
The performances are outstanding, and the film has already received many awards for them, especially Adrien Brody, who comes back with force to the table, thanks to a very constrained and yet explosive performance, one that never falls into melodrama or sentimentalism, and that explores the many facets of the man in question in a beautiful way.
Guy Pearce also shines, and the film becomes much better when his character is introduced because he brings all the conflict and the central relationship that the film will explore for the rest of its runtime. Felicity Jones is also great, but the script fails her with a very old-fashioned role that feels too classic and too underdeveloped. The rest of the cast does fine, and it would have been great to see more of them, but the film is already long enough.
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The Brutalist Movie Review: Direction, Music
Brody Corbet might be young, but his dominion over the cinematic language is quite strong, and there are some hints here and there of his naïveté. Most of the film plays out just as if it were directed by one of the classic masters of cinema. At times, The Brutalist goes beyond that, proving that Corbet is a talent worth following as he strikes for truth, impact, and pure awe, elements that make you watch something on the big screen, not just on your favorite streaming service.
The cinematography by Lol Crawley is also commendable. He goes out of his way to make every shot feel important and unique. From the scary intro to the light caress of the buildings being made and ending up at the foggy quarter, every single sequence is gorgeous to look at, and the work done by the production department reaches some really impressive highs, especially considering just how cheap the movie was.
The Brutalist Movie Review: The Last Word
The Brutalist is one of the year’s best films, thanks to its ambition, execution, and amazing performances. The script moves at a very nice pace, even for such a long movie, and it is hard to think of something to take out other than the on-the-nose epilogue. And so, while the film is fantastic, the second half stops it from achieving a true masterpiece level, leaving it in a territory where the potential of its director and his crew will probably be achieved much later, and this is only the beginning.
The Brutalist Trailer
The Brutalist released on 28th February, 2025.
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