The Brutalist 2024
The Brutalist seemed to play almost nowhere and then did incredibly well in the Oscar nominations. This brought it to my local theater and I wanted to see it for myself. It is not an enjoyable movie. I go to movies to be entertained, not to be depressed and I feel like the Oscars has gone overboard nominating unenjoyable movies that can't make any money. But even when they go with mass market movies, they end up nominating Dune 2?
Anyway, as if to make absolutely sure you don't' enjoy the movie, they made it three and half hours long, though it mercifully included a 15 minute intermission of music that it sounds like they recorded at an empty bar. The main character is a holocaust survivor who has all kinds of other terrible things happen to him, including at his own hands since he is a heroin addict and who generally seems to dislike everyone around him. And it feels like the director writer has the same disdain for everything around himself because he seems to hate all of his characters. Congratulations. I didn't like them either.
Still, a little of this is a triumph of perseverance as this very good architect works his way to America and goes from living in a homeless shelter and shoveling coal to getting some acclaim, though he gets bogged down in a cursed project for what seems like most of his life. He has a few small triumphs and they tack on a happy ending, which feels out of place. This movie could really work for people who like art house movies with "powerful" performances and themes, but as I have stated already, I did not enjoy it.
Written: 06 Feb 2025