The Brutalist (2024)

Jack and I loved this story about a Hungarian architect and holocaust survivor making his way in 1940s and 50s Philadelphia, although we commented on several places to trim its overlong 3:34 run time. Adrien Brody chews the scenery in the leading role of László and is supported by Felicity Jones as his wife Erzsébet, Alessandro Nivola as his brother Attila, Isaach De Bankolé as his friend Gordon, Raffey Cassidy as his niece Zsófia (plus a dual role at the very end), and Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn as wealthy employers.

This movie has earned 136 wins and 340 other nominations as of this posting. The ten Oscar honors include Best Picture nominee, Best Director nominee Brady Corbet, Best Original Screenplay nominees Corbet and his life partner Mona Fastvold, Best Actor winner Brody (his second after winning for The Pianist (2002), about another Holocaust survivor), Best Supporting Actress nominee Jones, and Best Supporting Actor nominee Pearce. 

Brutalism is a form of minimalist architecture which began in Sweden in the 1950s. Corbet and Fastvold have long been fascinated with architecture, and the inspiration for the grand project in the second half is St. John's Abbey Church in Collegeville, Minnesota.

I'm streaming Daniel Blumberg's Oscar-winning original score on Apple Music with our subscription and it covers many genres. There are also tracks by Dinah Shore, Eddy Arnold, Spike Jones (our parents' generation), and more. We're are both quite fond of the music of Spike Jones (1911-1965), not to be confused with the filmmaker Spike Jonze, born in 1969. Jones' parody of the William Tell Overture (originally by Gioachino Rossini) plays in one scene while Lazlo is shaving and practicing his English (the captions call it "cartoon music"). Jack pointed out that Rossini's intro, which runs from the nine second mark to the 25th in this video of Jones' parody, is frequently used in cartoons for placid scenes.

Lol Crawley won the cinematography Oscar for his gorgeous photography––the sequence in the Carrara, Italy, marble site is a sight to behold––and the rest was shot in Hungary, except for the epilogue in Venice, The other two Oscar nominations were for production design (Judy Becker, production designer, and Patricia Cuccia, set decorator) and editing (Dávid Jancsó).

There are many fascinating trivia items on imdb, if you're inclined to click through. One more trivia item not expressly noted in the aforementioned list is that Brody's mother was born in Hungary. My babetteflix trivia is that, with 43 producers, this movie is tied for third in the Producers Plethora Prize.

Brody was last blogged for Asteroid City, Jones for The Midnight Sky, Nivola and Becker for Amsterdam, De Bankolé for The People We Hate at the Wedding, Cassidy for Tomorrowland, Pearce for Mary Queen of Scots, Alwyn for Catherine Called Birdy, and Crawley for 45 Years (after which he shot The Humans and White Noise but I didn't mention him, perhaps because I wasn't a fan of the former and disliked the latter). Cassidy as in nine episodes of Mr. Selfridge

Corbet turned 13 while acting in Thirteen (2003) but gave it up as he preferred writing (co-wrote four other features) and directing (two of those). Fastvold co-wrote both of the other features Corbet directed and co-wrote and she directed one of the two he didn't. The couple has a project in post production that they co-wrote and she directs.

This is Blumberg's second feature (the first was directed by Fastvold) and he is the composer on the upcoming project by Corbet and her. Some of Cuccia's credit include Mean Girls (2004), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Talk to Me (2007), and she worked with Becker on Amsterdam. Jancsó worked in his native Hungary and his work here includes Pieces of a Woman.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics and audiences are definitely not brutal, averaging 93 and 80%, respectively. It's not available to rent yet, just to buy, coming off of its Oscar success, so we bought it and streamed it it on March 4. One advantage of buying, as I've mentioned before, is that there are extras, which I look forward to watching.