When a visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern United States, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious, wealthy client.

Arriving in UK cinemas on a wave of critical acclaim and awards comes ‘The Brutalist’, Brady Corbet’s epic drama about a Hungarian architect and holocaust survivor who tries to make a life for himself in post WWII America. It is the current favourite to win Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, despite a subject matter that doesn’t cry out as one for the mainstream, and a running time closer to 4 hours than 3, once you factor in the intermission. Approaching a film such as this, the question is always, does it live up the hype?

‘The Brutalist’ has you in the palm of its hands from the outset, with the initial sequences (or Overture, as it is labelled), acting as a brilliant introduction to the movie as much as it is László Tóth’s introduction to the United States. In Europe, he was a famed architect who trained at the Bauhaus; in the United States he’s just another immigrant arriving from a continent still traumatised from war and genocide. Initially shacking up with his cousin (Alessandro Nivola), he finds an opportunity from industrialist Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce) to return to architecture after Van Buren was (eventually) impressed with a library he designed at his home, when his son (Joe Alwyn) hired his cousin’s company to complete the work. From here, the movie will delve into the hope and opportunities of the American Dream, and the troubles and realities that come with embracing that ambition, and it is quite an intoxicating cinematic experience.

It stars Adrien Brody as Tóth, and he delivers a brilliant tour de force performance in the leading role, in a performance that will likely deliver him a second Oscar for ‘Best Actor’. The trauma felt by László from the war is left mostly unsaid, but we can presume, and it acts as a blessing and a curse for his prospects in America, making him fearless (what could be worse than a concentration camp), but it also lingers and leads him to self-medicate with heroin which impacts on his relationships and his work. Felicity Jones appears as his wife, who is initially left behind in Hungary, and she gets some of the strongest scenes in the movie including a dinner table confrontation towards the end, while Guy Pearce is as good as he’s been in years as Van Buren. Indeed, there’s barely a foot put wrong in the production of the movie (unless you care about the use of AI for a couple of building images generated – I don’t), from the acting to the production design and the phenomenal cinematography, to the incredible score from Daniel Blumberg.

It’s closest contemporary would be another great chronicle of the American Dream, warts and all, in ‘There Will Be Blood’, although unlike Daniel Plainview, Tóth’s motivations are more opaque and less power focused. The characters are difficult to warm to, including László, which I think is a purposeful choice, and I think that helps ‘The Brutalist’ as it digs into the prejudices and challenges faced by immigrants in the United States, regardless of their talents or achievements. Brady Corbet had already shown promise with his debut, ‘The Childhood of a Leader’, and ‘Vox Lux’ wasn’t bad either, and while I suspect this is a movie where its true status will only be fully established several years down the line, it is a mightily impressive movie and I thought it was excellent. Also – more intermissions please in long movies!

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Brady Corbet

Starring: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Stacy Martin, Raffey Cassidy, Alessandro Nivola, Isaach de Bankolé, Emma Laird, Jonathan Hyde and Ariane Labed

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt8999762/