Film No. 6. THE BRUTALIST. (2025). 19th Jan.

 

Film No. 6  (2025) January 19th.  2:00 PM  EVENT CINEMAS, Cine 3,  Innaloo.

"Tell me, why is an accomplished foreign architect shovelling coal here in Philadelphia?". (Harrison asks Laszlo why he has lowered himself, considering his profession, in the job market).

WINNER: Best Picture (Brady Corbet) The Golden Globe Awards.

When it come to Best Picture Awards, can THE BRUTALIST (TB) be compared with OPENHEIMER? Yes, we could also compare apples with grapes but it would be a ridiculous pursuit. The similarity may well come when the Oscar for best picture is announced in 5 weeks! But does a film like this, with it's baffling ending, win Best Picture?

So, who was Laszlo Toth? Here, he's a fiction, a figment of Director Brady Corbet's imagination. Corbet's fascination with the 50's style of concrete, block style architecture (Brutalism) grows legs as he tells a "what-if" story. What if a Hungarian WWII refugee, a man of rare architectural brilliance, risks all to come to the U.S. hoping to fall on his feet, so he might unleash his creativity through concrete and marble? And in 215 minutes (including a 15 min. interval) we are cemented into this unique and exhilarating experience. To recommend TB to all and sundry is, however, fraught with danger. The film has flaws and it is more an aesthetic experience, than entertainment. 

The two characters most key to Laszlo's U.S. vigil are his wife Erzsbeth (Felicity Jones) and his benefactor, Harrison Lee Van Buren Snr (Guy Pearce). Jones and Pearce are the bonding agents that set this titanic film. I see why TB has an Oscar buzz. I loved ANORA a whole lot more - for different reasons.  10GUMS.