The idea of going to see a 3h 35m film in the cinema is slightly daunting, we are accustomed to being comfortable and shorter films play into it, with even films clocking in at over 2 hours feeling long sometimes. But the first time I watched the teaser trailer for The Brutalist, I was enthralled, the shots and aesthetics alongside the dramatic score had stuck with me and I knew it was a film I had to see.
The Brutalist was released in the UK on the 24th of January, just after the Academy nominated the film in 10 categories, including Best Picture. These nominations excited me to get to see the film finally, but I was also nervous that the film wouldn’t hold up to my pretty big expectations. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about.
The film is split into two parts and an epilogue, with a 15-minute interval in the middle, some may wonder if the interval takes you out of the film but I would argue that it is integral to the storytelling and the passing of time. The first part ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ begins as Hungarian Architect László Tóth arrives in America looking for a fresh start after surviving the Holocaust, we follow him as he begins to find his feet and meets a wealthy family which changes everything for him. The first half of the film is picture-perfect with incredible cinematography and storytelling, you can’t help but be glued to the screen throughout and the time flies by.
We start to notice the picture-perfect facade fades in part two ‘The Hard Core of Beauty’ as we start to learn the true colours of many of the characters involved. Whilst in a way you feel fairly ‘safe’ during the first act, the second brings far more tension as you begin to feel the stress the lead is under.
The original score by Daniel Blumberg is a key part in moving the story forward and perfectly capturing the feelings in every scene, the first track on the score ‘Overture (Ship)’ sets the tone for the entire film, perfectly encapsulating the grandeur of this project and I’m honestly not sure I will ever get over the scene with it playing as we see the Statue of Liberty come into frame. I also think the aesthetics of the credits and titlecard feel so perfectly placed into the film, I’m not sure i’ve ever been so impressed just from watching credits role.
But credit is due to the phenomenal cast who received 3 nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor, Adrien Brody leads as László Tóth, with Felicity Jones as Erzsébet Tóth and Guy Pearce as Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr. But whilst the rest of the cast did not receive nominations, everyone was incredible with Joe Alwyn’s performance as Harry Lee being a surprise stand-out to me.
I truly believe that this film deserves to be seen on the big screen, nothing else can fully capture the grandeur of the whole production. I will tell you now not to let the runtime put you off, it honestly flies by and I sincerely recommend that you go to see this in the cinema whilst you still can. It’s a film I will think about for a long time.
The teaser trailer:
The full trailer:
follow me on letterboxd
rosie reviews 