The Brutalist
Brady Corbet’s meticulous drama centres around a Hungarian architect in 1940s America.
Wits may joke that the most brutal thing about Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” is its formidable running time. That uncompromising factor apart, there is nothing specifically brutal in execution or content about Corbet’s drama, the title referring to the architectural style practised by the film’s hero, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect, László Tóth, who emigrates to the US in 1947. “The Monumentalist” might have been a better title, certainly as regards the ambition of the film’s ferociously individual writer-director – a dissident among American cineastes, whose allegiances are primarily to the European tradition at its most rigorous.
Jonathan Romney, Screen International
Brady Corbet (1988) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. Acting since the age of eleven, he presented his writing and directorial debut in 2009 with the short film “Protect You+Me” which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was awarded „Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking”. His first feature film “The Childhood of a Leader” (2015) had its world premiere in Venice International Film Festival, competing in the Orrizonti section, winning two awards (Best Debut film and Best Director). His next feature film “Vox Lux” (2018) – a musical drama film starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law – premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was hailed by critics and later released in US cinemas.
The Childhood of a Leader (2015), Vox Lux (2018), The Brutalist (2024)