33/15
Between March 16 and May 5, 2023
Tale
When visionary architect László Tóth and his wife Erzsébet flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their heritage and witness the birth of modern America, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious and wealthy client. The filming took place for a total of 34 days. The recording was made in Budapest, Hungary and in Carrara, Italy. Link: Close-up: Why do we need the Venice Film Festival?
Brutalist is full of surprises
(2024). The characters aren’t who you expect them to be – not in a Scooby Doo ending, but in subtler, more gradual ways revealed by real people – unfolding over time, in new contexts, or when circumstances force them to. The setting is this: post-World War II horror. László Adrien Brody, the Jewish architect who escaped from the clutches of bloody Europe, finds himself in America’s welcoming arms – or faces them – in a frenetic opening sequence that recalls the literal birth of the Statue of Liberty.
What is the lesson?
It becomes a journey that constantly navigates through the various horrors of life: existential, professional, familial, intimate—never taking its eyes off the prize of great achievement and never valuing the prize. The shameful discovery that his success was born not in spite of his trauma, but because of it? Do we owe abuses? Culture, country, power and the forces that possess it in the construction of our brutal heritage (and homeland)?
But there is no novel
Is our life more important than the gasoline that burns out on the way? The movie is charming, cool looking and not boring (did you hear it was long?). It seems like it’s based on an old novel — a mysterious theme that I’d love to unpack for some of the details the movie refuses to share. This aging person’s search for meaning will also be ours.
