Oscar Nominee Film Review: THE BRUTALIST

The Emperor has no clothes.

Every year there is a film nominated for multiple Oscars that is the “Emperor’s New Clothes” of Oscar films, one where “if you understand film aesthetics, you will love this film. And if you DON’T love this film, then you are a film Neanderthal.” This year, that film is the 3 1/2 hour journey that is the 10x Oscar Nominated Film THE BRUTALIST. And I am here to tell you:

THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES.

Written and Directed by Brady Corbet (who is Oscar nominated for both), THE BRUTALIST takes the audience on the journey of “brutalist” architect Laszlo Toth who makes his way in America in the aftermath of WWII.

There is much to be admired in this film. The Cinematography, art direction and costuming is wonderful, recreating the bleakness and despair of post WWII Europe and the ray of hope and sunshine that is America in the 1950’s/early 1960’s. It’s a complex juxtaposition that could be used to great effect.

Unfortunately, Director Corbet OVER uses this juxtaposition and lingers way too long on the bleakness or the counterpart of light letting a scene go too long over and over again when getting out when the getting is good would be a better choice.

The acting of Adrien Brody (as the Brutalist Architect), Guy Pearce (as his American benefactor) and Felicity Jones (as Laszlo’s wife) are all stellar - each one more than earning their Oscar nominations. The scenes crackle when Brody goes toe to toe with Pearce or Jones and, in the rare instances, when Jones and Pearce goe toe-to-toe. Their performances make the too long scenes bearable.

And that’s the issue with this film it’s way too long and indulgent. There is a saying in entertainment that when a project is long (whether it’s a play or a film) the Director needs to “kill their darlings” - take a sharp knife to trim favorite scenes and moments that are, perhaps, too long. Apparently, Director Corbet never got that memo and let EVERY scene go way too long. I mean, do we really need a 2 minute scene of Adrien Brody staring into a fire?

But, all this could be forgiven if the whole adds up to more than the sum of it’s parts, but - alas - this film does not. It is overly long and the journey does not, ultimately, take us to a satisfactory end point. To make matters worse, Corbet adds an epilogue that preaches to the audience what the point of the film is and that’s a cardinal sin. In film, you need to SHOW and not TELL the audience what to think, but - in the end - Corbet could not resist the urge to tell us how to feel about this film.

I can forgive the indulgent length of this film - and admire the filmmaking craft and the performances - I cannot forgive being told what to think.

Letter Grade: B- (the performances of the 3 leads elevate this film)

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)