The Brutalist

8.0 - This is a really hard one for me to rate, even after sitting with it for over 48 hours.

It’s undeniably a technical masterpiece. It’s massive in story, scale, & performance. But I’m not sure it completely justifies itself and it’s 3.5 hour run time.

Adrien Brody gives an incredible, moving performance. His character is asked to give & give, sacrifice & sacrifice, risk & risk, for an American dream that is never truly possible, & can never be fully realized. Moving from one form of prison to another as he has to constantly turn to & survive every kind of abuse. Beyond Brody’s performance, I felt Guy Pearce’s was also especially powerful (& difficult to stomach). A fantastic representation of the entire American capitalist system.

The film itself is big & beautiful, & also cold & rough - brutalist if you will. The AI controversy is a complete nothing to me in reading how it was used.

But again, I don’t know if it is justified in its length. The epilogue was especially unnecessary, and I think its story additions could have been weaved in much more subtly, & as a result, more powerfully. I also think the end of Act Two would have hit much better if it was left with its open-ended (but still clear) resolution. Overall, this is a fantastic work that just doesn’t all mesh for me. There is a starkness between acts, & again before the epilogue, that detracts from any deep emotion. And while I absolutely under the love for this from awards organizations, I don’t automatically place it as a best picture favorite I was expecting when I entered my theater. I’m not sure I’ll ever find myself watching it again, but I am very curious how it might affect me on a second experience.

A symphony of a film about a man who birthed a seemingly aggressive style with a secret sentimental punch

The cinematography, acting, set design, and soundtrack were amazing. A very visually appealing movie. I feel bamboozled though. I was hoping for a biopic with the introduction to the world of brutalism but I felt it was shallow in that regard.

did not expect all that sex

Movies really make cigarettes look enjoyable.

Film, and such.