Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist may have narrowly missed out on Best Picture at the 97th Academy Awards, but the film still deserves credit for its masterful storytelling and incredibly rich themes. The story follows a fictional architect, Laszlo Toth, who travels to the US to escape his war-torn home and benefit from the so-called American Dream. The film garnered strong critical acclaim for its layered storytelling, outstanding performances, and ongoing relevance in today’s society. The Brutalist is now available on streaming, which has introduced a whole new audience to this timeless story.
Like many of the films that were recognized at the ceremony, The Brutalist is a film with real thematic depth that requires multiple viewings to fully understand. While the story isn’t particularly complicated, there’s a strong subtext about trauma, abuse, and the immigrant experience that may not be immediately clear to first-time viewers. However, this necessity for rewatches is what makes The Brutalist such a staggering accomplishment, and it’s the kind of film that reveals new layers with each watch. Thankfully, Adrien Brody’s recent Oscar win has inspired many audiences who initially pᴀssed on the film to give it a chance.
Why The Movie Is Called The Brutalist
The тιтle Has Several Different Meanings
The term “brutalist” has several connotations within Corbet’s film, with the most obvious being its reference to brutalism, the artistic movement where Toth made his name. Throughout The Brutalist, it’s gradually revealed that Toth was a leading figure in the brutalist architectural movement, which was a real-world development that emerged during the 1950s, primarily in Europe. The movement started in post-war Britain, with its buildings characterized thanks to their minimalist constructions and emphasis on bare building materials. It was a stark and polarizing contrast to the maximalist, decorative architecture that arose throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.
However, the term “brutalist” can also be used to refer to Toth himself, who also represents unfamiliarity and foreignness to the Americans that he surrounds himself with. In the very same way that brutalism gained popularity for its ability to challenge our preconceived notions of what a “beautiful” building should look like, Toth brings his contemporaries face-to-face with the reality that their world may not be as perfect as it seems from the inside, deconstructing the idea of the so-called American Dream.
There’s also a subtle reference to the “brutal” behavior of characters like Van Buren, who manipulate Toth for his own personal gain.
What’s most important is that in The Brutalist’s ending, Toth’s personal legacy is inseparable from his architectural one. He’s remembered for the buildings he created, once again binding him to the concept of brutalism and causing the audience to question exactly what the тιтle is referring to: is it a story about the architectural movement, or the person who practiced it? There’s also a subtle reference to the “brutal” behavior of characters like Van Buren, who manipulate Toth for his own personal gain.
The Brutalist Is About More Than Just Architecture
Brutalism Is An Obvious Metaphor For Something More Sinister
Although architecture plays a huge role at the surface level of The Brutalist’s story, its relevance is mostly allegorical. The art form is little more than a plot device to set the stage for the film’s true message, which is one of cyclical trauma and self-acceptance. Toth travels to America in search of the social paradise that’s been sold to him through idealist propaganda, but what he finds is actually a much more menacing, voracious society that uses him for his creativity and then tosses him aside.
The characters in The Brutalist are all treated differently based on their abilities and social standings. As immigrants, Laszlo and Erzebet Toth are constantly treated as novelties who bring specific purposes to America but can never fully belong there. Conversely, Van Buren feels enтιтled because of his wealth and uses this to exploit those around him, following in his country’s footsteps. His abuse of Laszlo, both physical and psychological, is representative of a more general, traumatic immigrant experience that characterized America throughout the post-war generation.
How The Brutalist Uses Architecture & The Holocaust To Explore Its Themes
The Minimalist Architecture Echoes Toth’s Isolation
The decision to use brutalism as the principal art movement in this film is very fitting, not just because of its historical link to Eastern Europe and Toth’s family home, but also because of how effectively its stark, monolithic aesthetics reflect the dehumanization that he experiences in America. Brutalist structures aim to evoke feelings of discomfort and disconnection, which is something that clearly relates to Toth’s wartime experiences. This creates a tangible anchor between architecture and history, through which The Brutalist can examine its themes.
While a more traditional form of architecture that values decoration and visual aesthetics would have made it easier to empathize with Lazslo and allow him to reflect his emotions in his art, the simplicity of his brutalist buildings really emphasizes his own loneliness and oppression.
Brody’s incredible performance in The Brutalist really highlights his character’s desperation to integrate into American society and subsequent frustration when he realizes that this isn’t possible. While a more traditional form of architecture that values decoration and visual aesthetics would have made it easier to empathize with Lazslo and allow him to reflect his emotions in his art, the simplicity of his brutalist buildings really emphasizes his own loneliness and oppression. His creativity can only be released in ways that seem bland and normal on the surface, which is the perfect visual metaphor for his own dehumanization.
What The Brutalist’s Director & Stars Have Said About The Movie’s Themes
Corbet And Brody Have Similar Interpretations Of The Film
Director Brady Corbet offered his own interpretation of brutalism in his film when speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2024: “with Brutalism in the 1950s, when people were erecting these monuments, many people wanted them torn down immediately.” The reception of these buildings clearly mirrors Toth’s own experience of being unwelcome in America. He further elaborated that “Brutalist architecture is representative of something that people do not understand and that they want torn down and ripped away [but] these buildings would not exist if it were not for the trauma that so much of the world went through.”
The Brutalist’s Brody echoed his director’s sentiments in an interview with NPR, expressing that “It’s hard to be a foreigner, even though you attempt to ᴀssimilate and to fit in. And that’s very much a part of Laszlo’s journey, and I got to honor that struggle of his.” The concept of “fitting in” and integrating into American society is the crux of The Brutalist’s story, with the film coming to an unsettling conclusion that America may not be the welcoming country it likes to present itself as – and that’s exactly why Toth’s story continues to feel so relevant.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, NPR
