Brady Corbet’s third feature already has cinephiles drooling ahead of its Venice premiere – but will this 3½ hour, 70mm, Vistavision epic prove more Oppenheimer… or Ad Astra?
There’s a lot to look forward to at the upcoming 2024 Venice Film Festival (28 Aug- 8 Sept). We’ve even listed a full thirty (!) films that we’re excited to see. But the number one choice for us for for many cinephiles that will be in attendance is Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. But what is it about this particular premiere that has people going gaga? Especially as it boasts a formidable 215 minute runtime…
The film follows on a Hungarian Jewish architect (Adrian Brody) who survives Auschwitz, emigrates to America, and struggles to maintain his artistic integrity in the face of a society that doesn’t understand his vision. If you think that aspect sounds something like Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, you’d be right – according to Corbet, the film draws inspiration from that novel, in which protagonist Howard Roark battles against conformity to preserve his creative vision. The Fountainhead was previously filmed in 1949 by King Vidor, with Gary Cooper as Roark. So; architecture, history, philosophy, the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by creative individuals in a rapidly changing world.
Corbet has established himself as a filmmaker with a distinctive voice, bold and innovative in his approach to storytelling. His previous films, the sumptuous yet thorny The Childhood of a Leader and snd glossy but menacing Vox Lux, were critically acclaimed for their ambitious narratives, striking visual styles, and ambiguous messaging. Corbet’s films explore of complex psychological and sociopolitical themes, presented through a unique and sometimes deadpan playfull narrative structure. Compare that to Rand’s vision, which is essentially ultra-libertarianism for terminally narcisistic idiots. It is surely to be hoped that Corbet’s film is some kind of response or deconstruction of Rand’s triumph-of-the-will allegory. In a world of so much four-quadrant slop, who wouldn’t be interested in a handsomely-staged movie of ideas?
Corbet co-wrote the screenplay with his partner Mona Fastvold, previously known for The World to Come. That film’s emotional and thematic complexity and strong character development were rooted in the performance of Vanessa Kirby, and she has a role here too, alongside Adrien Brody as László Tóth, Felicity Jones as Tóth’s wife Erzsébet, Guy Pearce, Raffey Cassidy (Vox Lux), and Stacy Martin (The Childhood of a Leader).
Will mass audiences turn out? Corbet’s decision to shoot the film on Vista Vision and present it in 70mm shows his desire to create a grand, immersive experience for the audience. 26 hulking reels of film will be flown under guard to Venice for the festival.
“I really believe that the future of theatrical exhibition is large format,” Corbet told Variety. “You need to event-ize moviegoing so it feels like a night out.”
All of this indicates that Corbet is keen to position his film as 2024’s answer to Oppenheimer. But of course things are never that easy, and a 70mm epic has no guarantee of success – one only has to think of James Grey’s lavish IMAX folly Ad Astra. Nevertheless, Corbet’s choice feels like not only a push to enhance the visual quality of the film but also to pay homage to classic cinema – aligning with the film’s thematic exploration of architecture and monumentalism, and its 1950-1980s period setting – and also provide a canny marketing hook. It even promises the experience of an honest-to-god good-old-fashioned interval. And yet, at time of writing, the film is still without a US distributor.
This is the cocktail of factors leading into the premiere. A thematically loaded picture, a director of vision and flair, a big swing at a sumptuous theatrical experience, a buzzy cast, and the possibility for some of the audience that this might just end up being a rare opportunity to see it as it was intended to be seen. But if it’s picked up, and given a hard push in US markets, what then? Could Corbet build his way to his first Oscar? Time will tell. But for now… bring it on.
The Venice Film Festival runs from 28 August to 8 September, and The Brutalist will premiere on 1 September.
Whitlock&Pope 