A once-in-a-generation masterwork firing on all cylinders, from acting and directing to precise technical prowess

By Keyvan Mohammadi Rad

Discussions on runtimes have been prevalent in the film community since last year, especially with the release of Oppenheimer and Killers of The Flower Moon. Both films had mammoth three-hour-plus runtimes in an age when most of us struggle with short attention spans. But what warrants such a long runtime? What kind of scale and scope does a story need to justify it? Even if the story would sound boring on the surface, how could it be paced for it to essentially feel like nothing?

The Brutalist spans 30 years in the life of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian-born architect and Holocaust survivor who came to the United States in the aftermath of World War II. After landing a contract with businessman Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), Tóth’s life makes a dramatic change.

We start the film in near-darkness, oscillating between two perspectives: one of his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) being interrogated and the other of Tóth stuffed onto a boat. We hear Erzsébet speaking as László frantically tries to get off the overcrowded boat and towards freedom. The entire scene is shot in one take, immersing us further into the narrative.

After checking in at Ellis Island, we get the opening credits followed by an archival film about tourism to Pennsylvania, which is something I, as a sucker for the use of historical footage, absolutely adored. We see these archival films pop up a couple of more times, sometimes with audio recordings and every time they do, it’s simply hypnotic. Even the transition into the intermission follows the natural flow of the film. It doesn’t abruptly stop but is rather interwoven as an important part of the storyline.

Interestingly, the film was shot on VistaVision, a format of 35mm that is filmed horizontally. As noted by Variety, the format was popular in the 1950s and hasn’t been seen much since. Even down to its projection on 70mm during the festival circuit. This plays into one of the film’s major themes: time.

During a short introduction before the film’s second screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, the host mentioned director Brady Corbet and co-writer and wife Mona Fastvold’s fascination with the concept of time and how the past shapes us in the present. This theme becomes apparent through the characters’ actions. A new aspect of their psychology unfolds as the runtime goes on, becoming more irritable and prone to frustration when something doesn’t go specifically to what was planned.

Since its first screening in Venice, The Brutalist has been getting hyped up to the moon, with some comparing it to American epics like There Will Be Blood and The Godfather. Is it a case of festival hyperbole? Yeah, probably. However, the film is remarkable and a work that stands on its own regardless of comparisons.

The Brutalist runs at a length of three hours and 35 minutes, plus an intermission. The film will be released by Elevation Pictures at a later date.