#TIFF24: “THE BRUTALIST” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

Brady Corbet’s ginormous, 215-minute period epic The Brutalist tells the story of Laszlo Toth--played Adrien Brody, who is phenomenal in the role. Toth was a legendary architect who escaped the holocaust and literally cemented his legacy with a series of glorious buildings. One might imagine the hyperextended 3.5+ hour runtime would have to begin at the very beginning–Toth in the womb or thereabouts, but Corbet opens instead with his arrival in New York. A rebirth, of sorts. Starting from zero, and building his way to greatness largely via a complicated relationship with a wealthy patron, Harry Lee Van Buren, played with great vigour by Guy Pearce.

The Brutalist has quite a reputation. It’s poised to win The Golden Bear in Berlin, and is already considered a strong contender for best picture at the Oscars. The word “masterpiece” has come up more than once. Let me try to temper your expectations before they get impossibly high: The Brutalist is a great movie with a stunning performance at its center, and without saying too much, a less satisfying final act. It’s constructed very much in parallel with Toth’s architectural philosophy–sturdy and bold, simple yet elegant. There are countless scenes that play out in more or less one shot that are undeniably “Best Actor” clip heroin for Brody, and I say this without a shred of irony. Corbet‘s Screenplay leans heavily on Brody’s performance to convey a world of history and pain that we never see, and Brody completely enveloped me in that history, often with his eyes alone. It’s truly stunning stuff. The arguable flaw in the design of The Brutalist is that its audience is also expected to connect the dots and make leaps into how Toth’s experiences in Europe, which–again–we never see–influenced his art. Corbet presumes a familiarity with Toth that I doubt most will bring into the movie–myself included. It’s only at the very, very end that we’re treated to some perspective on his contributions to the world, and the culmination of this sprawling story feels a bit out of nowhere–at least relative to the amount of time spent building towards it.

Overall, The Brutalist is so impressive it barely feels its extreme length (thanks partly to a built-in intermission. YES. BRING THEM BACK!) It is very much worth a big chunk of your day, and will probably be nominated at the very least for some key awards. Just don’t expect a full-on religious awakening.

The Brutalist screens at TIFF ’24:

Tuesday, September 10th at 8:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox

Thursday, September 12th at 8:00 PM at TIFF Lightbox