The recreations of 20th century American life playing out over several decades suggests a meticulous attention to detail.
Its as if youre viewing a time capsule from a bygone era of filmmaking.
Its not just that they dont make movies like this anymore of course they dont!
Alessandro Nivola and Adrien Brody in ‘The Brutalist.‘A24
Corbet and his cowriter Mona Fastvold toiled seven years on this.
Every second of their work shows onscreen.
The man is Lazslo Toth (Adrien Brody).
Before the war, he was a celebrated Hungarian architect who studied at Bauhaus.
They run a furniture-making business in Pennsylvania, dubbed Miller & Sons.
Atillas surname has been changed to something less Eastern European and more Catholic.
The sons are fictional: People here like a family business.
The accent is barely discernible.
Welcome to assimilation, American style.
Its supposed to be a surprise gift for Dad.
Lazslo is enlisted to design it.
He doesnt just want to praise his work and compensate him for his labor.
The buildings are the only things minimalist about this movie, however.
But its easy to recognize it as a bold, visionary, sweeping work of art right now.
This review originally ran as part of coverage of the 2024Toronto International Film Festival.
