When it premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, “The Brutalist” was hailed as the next great American epic. Even before A24 acquired Brady Corbet’s sprawling period drama, it was compared to the likes of “There Will Be Blood” and “The Godfather.” Five months later, the film has garnered three Golden Globes and nominations for 10 Academy Awards, along with immense praise for Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones’ performances.
The film has also received its fair share of pushback, primarily for its use of artificial intelligence as well as its runtime of more than three hours, which has been labeled self-indulgent. But don’t let the haters fool you. “The Brutalist” is an expertly crafted film with an inspiring story, brilliant performances and a powerful message about the immigrant experience in America. In other words, don’t be surprised or disappointed if it sweeps this year’s Oscars.
“The Brutalist” follows László Tóth (Brody), an accomplished Hungarian-Jewish architect who immigrates to Pennsylvania after surviving the Holocaust. He finds refuge with a cousin and works physical labor jobs until his talents are noticed by Harrison Lee Van Buren (Pearce), a wealthy industrialist and local tycoon who commissions him to build a community center. The film chronicles decades in László’s life, centering around his relationships with his wife Erzsébet (Jones), his niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) and Harrison. While America at first appears to be a land of great promise and opportunity for László, it slowly reveals itself to be something more malevolent and chilling.
It’s no secret that films like “The Brutalist” are rarely made these days — the film features a 15-minute intermission, something no major American film has done since “Gandhi” in 1982. All-encompassing three-hour-long epics aren’t all that common either, especially produced on a small budget of just under $10 million. The fact that a film of such a scale was able to be made on such a low budget is a feat in itself, never mind that it was shot in a mere 34 days.
Awarding “The Brutalist” a prize like best picture would send a resounding message to the industry in support of mid-budget productions and encourage aspiring filmmakers to pursue their passion projects. Corbet echoed this sentiment in his Golden Globes acceptance speech, where he declared “final cut tie-break goes to the director,” demanding that filmmakers get a bigger seat at the table. In an industry currently governed by profit where existing intellectual property can be prioritized over original stories, solidarity with artists is much needed.
An Oscars sweep for “The Brutalist” would also be a powerful statement from the academy on the issue of immigration, a hot topic as we enter President Donald Trump’s second term. The film deconstructs the myth of the American dream in a unique manner that speaks to our world today. We open as László arrives at Ellis Island, a triumphant cacophony of horns and drums underscoring his scramble above deck. He grasps a fellow immigrant in a moment of intense bliss as the camera pans to Lady Liberty: they’ve made it! This opening captures, as the film puts it in its first title card, “The Enigma of Arrival” — hectic yet hopeful, uncertain yet euphoric.
But “The Brutalist” goes on to show a more unfortunate, realistic portrait of the immigrant experience in America — one of exploitation and cruelty disguised as a helping hand. Corbet revealed in a Variety “Directors on Directors” interview that he started writing “The Brutalist” during the first Trump administration, when “the conservative agenda was to go back to the 1950s.” With this in mind, we can view his work as an attempt to peel back the curtain on 1950s America, revealing that life wasn’t so star-spangled awesome for people like László.
Nevertheless, in spite of external forces, László uses his art to express himself, channeling his experiences into the construction of his brutalist buildings. In this way, the film demonstrates that creating personal and unique art can be its own act of defiance. This message is a powerful one that rings true at a time when those in power have shown a disregard for the arts — just last week, the Trump administration dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Should the academy choose to award “The Brutalist,” they’d be amplifying this profound and necessary message.
So as awards season treks on, let’s not be hasty in our judgement of the many Oscar-nominated films. “Dune: Part Two” isn’t just space politics, “Wicked” isn’t just for theater kids and “The Brutalist” isn’t some self-indulgent three-hour slog. Each of these films merits our attention and our critical thinking. What do these films say about our world today? What would the academy be saying by awarding these films with those famed golden statues? Much of that is up to personal opinion. But in the case of “The Brutalist,” showering this epic with awards would be doing a hell of a lot of good.
Contact Leo Field at [email protected].
Julie & Steve Barri • Feb 4, 2025 at 3:34 pm
We thoroughly agree with your brilliant review!!!
Steve and Julie Barri