László settles in Pennsylvania, where he finds support thanks to his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola) and there he meets the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who recognizes his brilliance by offering him a contract that will change the course of his life for the next 30 years. László is commissioned to work on the Institute project, a monumental community center that becomes both his artistic triumph and a disturbing reflection of his past, in which his talent and his capacity for resilience are confronted with his recognition as an immigrant, addiction and prejudice.
The script introduces us to a rich landscape of post-war America, referencing the imposing brutalist architectures that can be found all over the planet, a bare story, simultaneously maximalist and minimalist, and at the same time poetic on its formal, narrative and thematic level. Although in reality, the film is more about ambition, desires, overcoming, identity, and survival than about architecture.
Adrien Brody as László Tóth and Felicity Jones as Erzsébet Tóth. The brutalist by Brady Corbet. Cinematographer by Lol Crawley. Image courtesy of A24
"The Brutalist" is not only Corbet's best work to date, it is also for many one of the best films of 2024. Newly released in the United States, the film will reach our theaters on January 24, 2025, shortly before the next edition of the Oscars, for which many consider it has many options.
The film, directed by Brady Corbet, received the Silver Lion of the LXXXI edition of the Festival and seven nominations: best film, best director, best script (Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold), best performance by a male actor in theater film (Adrien Brody), best performance by a female actor in a supporting role (Felicity Jones), best performance by a male actor in a supporting role (Guy Pearce), best original score (Daniel Blumberg).
