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Mashable

'The Brutalist' review: A modern American masterpiece

Mashable
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79% Informative

The Brutalist is a towering paean to the American dream, in all its force and folly.

Set over several decades , Brady Corbet's post-World War II immigrant saga is constructed with meticulous consideration.

The film is both a densely-packed text, filled with rich thought on the world at large, as well as an excitingly rhythmic work of cinema.

The film centers a key question that applies to every facet of its construction: "What is strength?" Adrien Brody's lead performance is funny, stirring, and risible.

Guy Pearce is the movie's secret weapon, as the actor charged with creating the in-groups and inner circles which tacitly reject László in the first place.

The Brutalist is, in large part, shot with the classical composition of old Hollywood , with controlled framing and movement, but it often breaks from this norm.

Certain shots are owed to Béla Tarr , while others to László Nemes , and as the film moves forward through time, it even pulls from Lynchian surrealism, and techniques developed during the early video revolution.