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It’s a darkly intense epic about the punishing grind and slim reward of the immigrant spirit, of how inspiration can claw its way to change the fabric of the world. It’s even called The Brutalist. Of COURSE it stars Adrien Brody.
The brief but bone-rattling teaser displays percussive music over a sliding scale of credits, before showing various vignettes of emaciated architect Laszlo Toth (Brody) pontificating over impressionistic shots of American architectural icons in the wake of World War II.
Thanks to some internet spoilers (WARNING), we know the story largely concerns the forced immigration of Toth to America post-WWII, and how Toth overcomes the struggles of working-class America and claws his way to architectural glory.
The trailer for The Brutalist is, in the best way, punishing. Tonally, it hammers into the viewers that this will not be an uplifting story. It feels epic, but not grand, rather huge in scope and ramifications. The film’s sharp and impressionistic visual style arrests the senses, framing star Brody’s face as a canvas for sadness mixed with inspiration.
The Brutalist (2024) – source: A24
Rumors claim this film will span several decades with a running time of over 3 hours. Despite fears of overindulgence, the film’s brief tease feels much more character-focused than big-budget Megalopolis, a film which tackled many of the same themes but was so overly pretentious it bordered on parody. Brody captures the immigrant spirit perfectly, wearing layers upon layers of weariness on his face. It’s a role he’s played to Oscar-winning perfection, and it still hits just as powerfully.
However, despite my fawning over this trailer, The Brutalist feels destined to attract only the most pretentious of cinephiles. In an election year, the film’s historical immigration themes depicted with such an unrelenting lens may be too tiring for a country grappling with its own racial issues. I’m curious to see if the film’s marketing will do more to capture a wider audience base, or if it even displays the intent to do so.
Directed by Brady Corbet, The Brutalist will release theatrically in the United States on December 20,2024. The movie stars Adrien Brody in the lead role.
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