The Brutalist (2024) - Brady impresses with major immigrant love story

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A rich man looks at a coal-shoveling laborer on this evocative poster for Brady Corbet's The Brutalist

 

László Tóth, a great Hungarian-Jewish architect, arrives in America as a refugee following WWII, split up from his beloved wife Erzsébet, and he initially finds work at his cousin's furniture store.

 

The Brutalist is written by Mona Fastvold (Vox Lux (2018)) and co-writer/co-producer/director, great Arizonian filmmaker Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader (2015)). The title is ambiguous, referring to the architectural style practiced by the protagonist but may also refer to several of the lead characters.

Commanding remarkable length, (this epic runs past 200 minutes), Corbet and his team manage to keep the story moving and compelling throughout. Centrally stands the engaged performances of Adrien Brody (The French Dispatch (2021)) as the wrought László and Felicity Jones (On the Basis of Sex (2018)), who gives a beautiful performance as his devoted wife. The film is in large part a love story of the two of them, and this love is the majestic force that powers The Brutalist.

Around them hovers Guy Pearce (Back from the Outback (2021)), mercurial, handsome and conflicted as the wealthy Van Buren, who becomes László's patron. There are rich supporting parts that are filled out by esteemed performances from Isaach de Bankolé (S.W.A.T. (2019, TV-series)) and Joe Alwyn (Boy Erased (2018)). The film's vivid experience of an immigrant in America is heightened by inspired work from the production design, locations and costumes to Lol Crawley's (Dau (2019)) fabulous VistaVision 70mm photography and Daniel Blumberg's (The World to Come (2020)) bold and strong score.

SPOILER László's troubles come to a head, when Van Buren rapes him, somewhat out of the blue, during their trip to Italy for marble. The event provides food for thought as to Van Buren's motivation for the entire enterprise, (the construction of a lavish community center on top of a hill), but the rape itself is relayed in just one shot that seems to last all of thirty seconds or so. It is somehow too short, - and seems unrealistic in its brevity. The film wraps up with a speech given about Tóth's body of work at a career retrospective exhibition decades later in Venice, and though I suppose the intent is for us to leave on a positive note, something along the lines of 'love overcomes', the speech's 'it is not the journey but the destination' feels a bit misplaced in the context of the very old and tired-looking László who is there in a wheelchair to be celebrated. These are minor asides to a noteworthy and highly accomplished film, which feels like a biopic but is actually entirely (inspired, of course, by life) fiction.

Related posts:

 

Brady Corbet: Saint Laurent (2014) - Bonello's overly self-confident biopic (actor) 

While We're Young (2014) - Baumbach offers another observant, clever downer (actor)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) - Durkin's chilling psychological thriller debut (actor)

Funny Games (2007) - Haneke recreates his strong critique of movie violence consumption for the American audience (co-star)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9.5 mil. $

Box office: 47.3 mil. $ and running

= Big hit (has so far returned 4.97 times its cost)

[The Brutalist premiered 1 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 215 minutes. Filming began in 2020, where the ending in Venice was shot. The rest of the filming, delayed due to the China Virus pandemic, Ukraine War, pregnancies, deaths and other issues, took place from March - May 2023 in Hungary, including in Budapest. The film opened #12 to a 266k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 1,612 theaters. The film has one announced market left to release in: Lithuania on April 4. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning 3; for Best Actor (Brody), Cinematography and Score. It lost Best Picture to Anora, Supporting Actor (Pearce) to Kieran Culkin for A Certain Pain, Supporting Actress (Jones) to Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, Director to Sean Baker for Anora, Original Screenplay also to Baker for Anora, Editing to Anora and Production Design to Wicked. It also won 4/9 BAFTA awards, 3/7 Golden Globes, was nominated for an Independent Spirit award and won an AFI award, among many other honors. Corbet has not announced his next project yet. Brody returns in Emperor (2026); Jones in Train Dreams (2025); and Pearce in Killing Faith (2025) and The Woman in Cabin 10 (2015). The Brutalist is certified fresh at 93 % with an 8.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Brutalist?

I Love You to Death (1990) - Great ensemble fire up Kasdan's true-crime comedy

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Co-star Kevin Kline looks moronic in white pajama piece on this poster for Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death

Joey is a hard-working family man in New York, who keeps his steam up by cheating voraciously with different women. When his wife discovers this, she and her mother wish Joey dead!

 

I Love You to Death is written by John Kostmayer (Simon & Simon (1984, TV-series)) and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat (1981)). It is based on a true story from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Kevin Kline (Beauty and the Beast (2017)) has his skin darkened for the Italian-American role of the worry-free Joey, who thinks of the US as an Italian country, and who admits to 12 counts of infidelity in 14 days in the film's funny first scene. Once again, this film proves that Kline is simply a comedic talent to reckon with. Tracey Ullman (Howard's End (2017, miniseries)) is sweet as the wife, and Joan Plowright (Rock My World (2002)) is also funny as the quick-witted mother-in-law with double standards. River Phoenix (Little Nikita (1988)) is lovely as the new-age indeterminate Devo, and Keanu Reeves (The Devil's Advocate (1997)) and John Hurt (The Village (2004)) appear as authentic, hopeless drug addict assassins. 

The focus on a (very) unfaithful husband, who nevertheless still loves his family and is good with them, can inspire debate about marriage, monogamy and so forth. The steam doesn't last all the way through the picture, but there is plenty to laugh at and like about I Love You to Death.

 

Related posts:

Lawrence Kasdan: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) - Disney, Howard and Co. drive expensive stick through beloved franchise (co-writer)

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster (writer) 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Dreamcatcher (2003) - Kasdan's career-crippling King adaptation 

Continental Divide (1981) - Unpersuasive Belushi comedy (writer)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure (co-writer)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Uncertain

Box office: In excess of 16.1 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.81 times its cost)

[I Love You to Death was released 6 April (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Plowright was paid 250k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - July 1989 in Washington. The film opened #6 to a 4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 16.1 mil. $. If we estimate an 8 mil. $ budget and a hesitant foreign reception a 22.5 mil. $ final gross could be projected, which would rank as a box office success. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Kasdan returned with Grand Canyon (1991). Kline returned in Soapdish (1991); Ullman in 6 TV and video titles prior to her theatrical return in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). I Love You to Death is rotten at 58 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Love You to Death?

The Piano (1993) - Campion's enthralling Maori period romance

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+ Best $ Return of the Year: 20 times the cost + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best New Zealand Movie of the Year + Best On-screen Couple of the Year: Holly Hunter & Harvey Keitel + Best Romance of the Year

 

A striking, almost ethereal still from the film makes up this poster for Jane Campion's The Piano

A mute woman from Scotland arrives to New Zealand with her daughter and her piano, as she has been married off to a frontier man there, who is a stranger to her. Gradually, however, she falls in love with another man of the new land, who lives in the forest with the native Maori people.

 

The Piano is written and directed by New Zealander master filmmaker Jane Campion (Sweetie (1989)), whose 3rd feature it is.

It is a highly esteemed film about love with beautiful long takes - that are never too long still, (cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh (Gifted (2017))), fabulous nature and music (score by Michael Nyman (Everyday (2012))). 

The actors are also eminent: Anna Paquin (The Irishman (2019)) as the young daughter is brilliant; Holly Hunter (Succession (2019, TV-series)) and Harvey Keitel (Saturn 3 (1980)) as the odd couple are the same. SPOILER A devastatingly tragic ending is averted, (Campion has later divulged that this ending was her original choice), and instead The Piano ends on a life-affirming note.  

 

Related post:

 

Jane Campion: 1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 7 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 140 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 20 times its cost)

[The Piano premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 1992 in New Zealand. The film opened #18 to a 151k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 671 theaters (different weeks), grossing 40.1 mil. $ (28.6 % of the total gross). The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (shared with Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine), making Campion the first female recipient in history. It was also nominated for 8 Oscars, winning for Best Actress (Hunter), Supporting Actress (Paquin) and Script. It lost Best Cinematography to Janusz Kaminski for Schindler's List, Costumes to The Age of Innocence, Director to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List, Picture to Schindler's List and Editing also to Schindler's List. It also won 3/10 BAFTA nominations, 1/6 Golden Globe nominations, a César award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 2 National Board of Review awards and the Best Actress award at Cannes (Hunter), among scores of other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Campion returned with The Portrait of a Lady (1996). Hunter returned in The Firm (1993); Keitel in Rising Sun (1993); and Sam Neill (Rams (2020)) in The Rainbow Warrior (1993, TV movie) and theatrically in Jurassic Park (1993). The Piano is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Piano?

Portrait of a Lady on Fire/Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu (2019) - Sciamma spoils us with picturesque period romance

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+ Best Blockbuster of the Year (2,797.3 mil. $ gross) + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 761.9
mil. $ range+ Best LBGT Movie of the Year + Romance of the Year 

Star Adèle Haenel has caught fire on this poster for Céline Sciamma's Portrait of a Lady on Fire

A soon to be married aristocrat lady spends a period at a reclusive seaside house, where a talented female painter is tasked with making her portrait. The two reach a profound connection in those precious days.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is written and directed by great French filmmaker Céline Sciamma (Water Lilies/Naissance des Pieuvres (2007)). Sciamma presents another very woman-centered tale with a subtle feminist current running through it, this time especially evident in a scene of the painter's placement at an art opening, where she has been used to paint a 'master' artist's paintings but naturally without any credit given.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a picturesque (cinematography by Claire Mathon (Atlantics/Atlantique (2019))) and delicious treat, a sort of lesbian counterpart to the short-term romance gay 'guilty pleasure' of recently, Luca Guadagnino's great Call My By Your Name (2017). - Short and sweet, turning to bittersweet and tears, as the passion it describes becomes but a burning memory.
The attraction is subdued and confined to looks and dialog for the majority of the film, which undoubtedly leaves some audiences a bit restless, before the genie is let out of its lamp so to speak. Then it is still much less explicit than many other recent romances, but plenty sensual, deftly utilizing the looks, the sounds of the surf and smoldering fire to render the heightened sense of existence such powerful feelings of love and desire provoke.
The title seems to work on two planes, as Adèle Haenel's (Ogres/Les Ogres (2015)) aristocrat subject literally catches fire at a beach-set bonfire scene one evening in the film, but also poetically seems to have her soul set afire by the sudden storm of love that she experiences with the other. Haenel and Noémie Merlant (The Brother (2016)) are both outstanding in the film.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a near-perfect portrayal of the rush, redemption and pain of finding love and losing it.

 

Related post:

 

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 4 mil. €, approximately 4.45 mil. $
Box office: 9.7 mil. $ and counting
= Flop (has returned 2.17 times its cost so far)
[Portrait of a Lady on Fire premiered 19 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 120 minutes. Shooting took place from October - December 2018 in France. The film opened #39 to a 67k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #16 and in 334 theaters and grossed 3.7 mil. $ (28.1 % of the total gross). Its release was disrupted dramatically by the corona pandemic. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been France with 2.3 mil. $ (23.7 %) and South Korea with 1 mil. $ (10.3 %). The film was shortlisted as France's submission for the Oscars but wasn't ultimately chosen. It was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, won 2 awards in Cannes, 1/10 César award nominations, 1/3 European Film award nominations, nominated for an Independent Spirit award and won a National Board of Review award. IMDb's users have voted the film in at the site's Top 250 at #232, sitting between La Haine (1995) and It Happened One Night (1954). Sciamma has not announced her next project yet. Haenel has also not announced her next project yet; Merlant returned in Shakira (2019, short) and theatrically in Jumbo (2020). Portrait of a Lady on Fire is certified fresh at 98 % with a 9.01/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Portrait of a Lady on Fire?

Match Point (2005) - Allen takes London with pensive thriller hit

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+ Best London Movie of the Year

The still of what appears a moment of genuine romantic feeling is contrasted eerily with the ominous tagline in the bottom of this poster for Woody Allen's Match Point; 'There are no little secrets.'

An ex-tennis pro falls for an alluring woman who is the girlfriend of his friend, who is soon to be his brother-in-law, as he is on the cusp of entering a wealthy English family.

Match Point is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (Sleeper (1973)), whose 35th feature it is. I can't but feel it as a basically rather trite concept adult picture with the core theme being, 'luck'. Still Match Point is a captivating and good film, which impresses with a well-integrated opera element, a strong ending and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis (2005, miniseries)) giving an equally strong protagonist performance. 
This is a fine sidestep for Allen, both in terms of genre (drama-thriller) and location, (it is his first film shot abroad), and the ease with which he succeeds is admirable, - but I as an Allen fan miss some of his personality (not least his humor) in the film.

Related posts:
 
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem

Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement

2014 in films - according to Film Excess

Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence

Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute  (as actor)

To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date  

2011 in films - according to Film Excess

Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser  

Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac  

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy 

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans 
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work 
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart   

Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer   

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs   
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)   

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 85.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Match Point premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, France) and runs 124 minutes. When Allen could not find funding for the film in New York, where he had set it in The Hamptons, he found it in the UK with the BBC and rewrote to accommodate the new location. Kate Winslet was cast but dropped out, and her character had to be rewritten as an American, for Scarlett Johansson (Rough Night (2017)). Shooting took place in the UK, including London, from June - August 2004. The film opened #21 to a 398k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 509 theaters (different weeks), grossing 23.1 mil. $ (27.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 10.7 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 10.2 mil. $ (12 %). The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, losing to Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco for Crash. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a César award, won a David di Donatello award, a Goya award, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Allen has said of the film: "arguably may be the best film that I've made. This is strictly accidental, it just happened to come out right. You know, I try to make them all good, but some come out and some don't. With this one everything seemed to come out right. The actors fell in, the photography fell in and the story clicked. I caught a lot of breaks!" He returned with Scoop (2006), also starring Johansson. Meyers returned in Mission: Impossible III (2006); Johansson in The Island (2005). Match Point is certified fresh at 76 % with a 7.15/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Match Point?

Frida (2002) - Hayek, Molina shine in Taymor's excellent biopic

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+ Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Biopic of the Year + Best Poster of the Year + Breakthrough of the Year: Salma Hayek

Salma Hayek looks stunning on this invitingly colored and balanced poster for Julie Taymor's Frida, which mirrors the painting style of the title character

During the first half of the 20th century, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is made an invalid in a bus accident at age 18, meets the love of her life, the unfaithful Diego, and becomes a great artist.

Frida is written by Clancy Sigal (In Love and War (1996)), Diane Lake, Gregory Nava (Selena (1997)) and Anna Thomas (The End of August (1981)), based on the book Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo (1983) by Hayden Herrera, and directed by great Massachuetts-born filmmaker Julie Taymor (Titus (1999)).
It is a sensually dense, bubbling, inspired film with fantastic photography by Rodrigo Prieto (A Study in Gravity (2013)). It is impressively staged and scored with wonderful, often painful music by Elliot Goldenthal (Heat (1995)).
Centrally stands two major dramatic performances: Salma Hayek (No One Writes to the Colonel/El Coronel no Tiene quien le Escriba (1999)) arguably in the best role of her career, and Alfred Molina (Return to Zero (2014)), perhaps also in his best. Kahlo's art is utilized most inventively in the storytelling of Frida. It is a splendid film.

 

Related post:

 

2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: 56.2 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.68 times its cost)
[Frida premiered 29 August (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 123 minutes. Herrera's book was optioned in 1988, and the film was thus underway for more than a decade, before it reached fruition. Molina gained 35 pounds for his role in the film. Shooting took place in Mexico, including Mexico City, in and around March 2001. The film opened #31 to a 205k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #9 and in 794 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 25.8 mil. $ (45.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 6 mil. $ (10.7 %) and Mexico with 3.5 mil. $ (6.2 %). The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning 2, for Best Score and Makeup. It lost Best Actress to Nicole Kidman in The Hours, Art/set Direction to Chicago, Costume Design to Chicago, and Song (Burn It Blue by Goldenthal and Taymor) to Lose Yourself from 8 Mile. The film also won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, 1/4 BAFTAs, an AFI award, a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal to its rating here. During the #MeToo hullaballoo, Hayek came forth in 2017 and accused distributing executive producer Harvey Weinstein of trying to get sexual favors from her during production of Frida, as well as pressuring her into accepting performing in a 'gratuitous' sex scene. Taymor returned with Across the Universe (2007)). Hayek returned in Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003), Molina in Undertaking Betty/Plots with a View (2002). Frida is certified fresh at 75 % with a 6.87/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Frida?

Loving (2016) - Edgerton and Negga own the screen in Nichols' powerful period drama

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+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Historical Movie of the Year + Best Virginia Movie of the Year

A warm and love-filled embrace between its two stars functions as the focus of this pleasant poster for Jeff Nichols' Loving

When Richard Loving marries his soulmate Mildred in 1958 on a trip to Washington DC, where their interracial bond is allowed, it provokes a judicial interference upon their return home, which forces them apart for years. But the couple won't stand for it, and by their example, they change things for themselves and for couples to come.

Loving is written and directed by great Arkansan filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud (2012)) based on the true story of the Lovings of Virginia, and Nichols has arguably made his best film to date with it. It is a thoroughly tender, humanistic and moreover enormously authentic retelling of an important break and hugely affecting chapter of US history on the wrongs of race-based marriage laws.
Both Ruth Negga (Noble (2014)) and Joel Edgerton (Warrior (2011)) give formidable performances as the Lovings, and they get strong support from Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex (2010)) as a photographer and Jon Bass (Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015)) and Nick Kroll (Vacation (2015)) as the attorneys, who support and encourage their appeal case.
The purity and simplicity of the story stands out and is backed by a handsome score from David Wingo (Joe (2013)). Loving is a splendid work.

Related posts:


Jeff Nichols: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Exces [UPDATED I]
Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]    
Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 12.9 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.43 times the cost)
[Loving premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, in competition) and runs 123 minutes. Co-producer Colin Firth stumbled upon the Loving story in 2009, and the film was later inspired by the documentary The Loving Story (2011). Shooting took place from September - November 2015 in Virginia and Washington DC. The film opened #27 to a 159k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 572 theaters (different weeks), grossing 7.7 mil. $ (59.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 2.1 mil. $ (16.3 %) and the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (8.5 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Negga), lost to Emma Stone for La La Land. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, won 2 Independent Spirit awards and many other honors. Nichols returned with Long Way Back Home (2018, short) and hasn't made a feature since yet. Edgerton returned in It Comes at Night (2017), Negga in Warcraft: The Beginning (2016). Loving is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Loving?