We see a lot of movies talking about the horrors of the Holocaust and the Second World War. But the stories that are often left out are of the survivors and what life was like after they had to return to living a “normal” life. The Brutalist follows the life of László Toth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Brutalist architect who studied at Bauhaus, as he comes to America to restart his life with the hopes of bringing his wife to live with him soon.
From the instant László arrives at his cousin’s shop in New York, he’s instantly treated as different and almost unwanted by his cousin. His heritage and what he’s been through aren’t as easy to conceal or to blend in like his cousin Attila, but his craftsmanship and artistry make him an asset. This helps the men land a major client, who initially rejects the more modern update to his mansion. And xenophobia and racism push László out of the one safe place he had to go, and he finds himself on the streets. While this might break a normal person, compared to what he already experienced, László pushes forward and works at his goal of rebuilding his life.
The years pass, and the millionaire’s appreciation of his new library has grown. After tracking László down at a coal yard, he realizes he actually has found a diamond in the rough with László with his past works and brings him close into his inner circle. László is embraced and almost intoxicated with the life around him, as his wealthy new friends give him a place to stay on the mansion property, work, food, and even work to bring his wife and niece over from Hungary finally. It seems his life is coming together and he’s found where he’s appreciated and the happy ending he’s been hoping for all these years.
But of course, these stories never end that way. The sweeping architecture, the projects, and the design are all things of beauty that are dashed between darker elements of the film. The austere and cold brutalist architecture mimics the cold responses characters have and the standoffishness built into the relationships. The heartfelt reunion between lovers is as cold as the concrete that László uses in his designs. And the sharp angles in the community center he’s designing splits the horizon as clearly as the relationship dynamics between the haves and have-nots.
Like most movies hitting theaters, The Brutalist has an overly bloated run time – of three hours and thirty-five minutes. But unlike most longer films nowadays, it offers a fifteen-minute intermission at about the two-hour point of the movie. There’s a natural feeling break time in the story, and the intermission image fits that moment of time in the story as well. This actually makes it so the movie doesn’t feel like it as extremely long as it is.
For a post-World War II film that talks about the survival of concentration camps, the audience is spared mostly from seeing that violence played out again. But that doesn’t mean the movie isn’t as brutal to László and other characters as that part of his life. There are moments of extreme assault, outburst, and violence throughout the story. It doesn’t seem like there really is much of a happily-ever-after in the story, as much as you’d like there to be.
The Brutalist will be in theaters nationwide this weekend.
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About The Brutalist
Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost…