‘The Brutalist:’ Defying cinematic masterpiece | Arts & Entertainment

“Authors have it wrong. It is about the destination, not the journey.”

With a budget of approximately $9 million, 36-year-old director Brady Corbet achieved the near-impossible by bringing to life what many in the industry had declared “undistributable.” “The Brutalist” is an astonishing, harrowing American epic that proves—if anything—that cinema is alive and well.

Shot on 35mm and utilizing VistaVision—a celluloid style last seen in 1961 with the release of “One-Eyed Jacks” —Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic, complete with a 15-minute intermission and musical overture, is the kind of film we rarely see in today’s landscape. The film stars Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) as László Tóth, a visionary architect who, after escaping postwar Europe, immigrates to America, where he meets a wealthy and prominent industrialist (Guy Pearce) who changes his life forever.

You simply cannot talk about “The Brutalist” without first mentioning the invigorating, eargasmic soundtrack composed by Daniel Blumberg. The musical composition is not just one of the finest soundtracks to any motion picture this decade—but ever. The overture, which accompanies Tóth’s arrival to America, will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most transcendent, beautiful sequences ever captured on screen. One shot in particular will forever be etched in my mind. For the first time in a very long time, I fell victim to the wondrous powers of the movies. It was intoxicating.

For a film that has such an intimidating runtime, the pacing is marvelous. There’s simply not a moment wasted and through the exquisite editing and delivery from the actors, the film is surprisingly one of the better-paced of the year. Speaking of actors, Brody (who is doing some of the best cigarette acting we’ve seen in years), Pearce and Felicity Jones—who doesn’t appear until after the intermission—are astounding. Brody and Pearce are two performers whom I have been incredibly fond of for years now, but still managed to surprise me and are more than deserving of all the accolades. Jones, while having far less screen time, leaves a lasting impression and even steals the spotlight in a particular scene that is the culmination of so much pent-up anger and disgust that you could quite literally feel the tension and suspense radiating from my auditorium screening. When I say they don’t make films like “The Brutalist” anymore, I mean it. 

To address the white elephant in the room, the film has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards and (despite being more than deserving of all nominations and even wins in my humble opinion) many have grown disdain for the film after recent reports came to fruition in regards to the use of artificial intelligence in the post-production editing process. After conducting research of my own and sifting through all of the facts, I think the controversy is preposterous and grossly exaggerated. I won’t waste any more words on the issue but please, I implore you to do your own research and don’t take the clickbait news headlines at face value (I just hope Academy voters do the same).

“The Brutalist” is—to no exaggeration—a bonafide masterpiece and without a shadow of a doubt, the best film of 2024. I am still in utter disbelief that the film even exists and will forever be grateful to have experienced it in a theatre, the way it was meant to be seen. Please, venture out to your local cineplex and do yourself a favor and view this instant classic yourself. 10 slow, melancholic cigarette drags out of 10.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of The Torch.