Current:Home > ContactAdrien Brody reveals 'personal connection' to 3½-hour epic 'The Brutalist' -ClearPath Finance
Adrien Brody reveals 'personal connection' to 3½-hour epic 'The Brutalist'
View
Date:2025-04-16 16:27:36
NEW YORK – Adrien Brody is back with a career-best performance.
Twenty-two years after his Oscar-winning turn in “The Pianist,” the 51-year-old actor could very well pick up a second golden statue for his towering work in “The Brutalist,” which bowed at New York Film Festival Saturday. The haunting historical epic clocks in at 3 ½ hours long (with a 15-minute intermission), as it traces a Hungarian-Jewish architect named László Tóth (Brody) who flees to America after World War II and lands in rural Pennsylvania. He struggles to find work that’s worthy of his singular talent, until he meets a wealthy tycoon (Guy Pearce) who commissions him to design and build a lavish community center.
The film is an astonishing excavation of the dark heart of America, showing how people leech off the creativity and cultures of immigrants, but rarely love them in return. Speaking to reporters after an early morning screening, Brody opened up about his “personal connection” to the material: His mom, photographer Sylvia Plachy, is also a Hungarian immigrant.
Join our Watch Party!Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.
“The journey of my grandparents was not dissimilar to this,” Brody explained. As a girl, Plachy and her family fled Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution and took refuge in Austria, before moving to New York in 1958. Like László, her parents had “wonderful jobs and a beautiful home” back in Hungary, but were “starting fresh and essentially impoverished” when they arrived in the U.S.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
“It’s a sacrifice that I’ve never taken for granted,” Brody said. “To be honored with the opportunity to embody that journey that does not only reflect something personal to my ancestors, but to so many people, and the complexity of coming to America as an immigrant – all of these things are so meaningful. I just feel very fortunate to be here.”
“Brutalist” is directed by Brady Corbet (“Vox Lux”) and co-written by Mona Fastvold (“The World to Come”), who drew from a variety of real-life architects such as Marcel Breuer, Louis Kahn and Paul Rudolph as they crafted the character of László. Corbet wasn’t interested in making a biopic of any one person.
“It’s a way of accessing the past without having to pay tribute to someone’s life rights,” the filmmaker said. “There’s a way of evoking the era where you’re less of a slave to those details. And I also think for viewers, it just gets them out of their head, so they’re not going, ‘Is this how it really went down?’ ”
Although the story is massive in scope – spanning multiple decades and continents – the ambitious film was made for a shockingly thrifty $10 million. During the post-screening Q&A, Corbet discussed how he balanced “minimalism and maximalism” through Daniel Blumberg’s arresting score and Judy Becker’s lofty yet severe set designs. Brody and Felicity Jones, who plays László‘s wife, also shared how they mastered Hungarian accents and dialogue.
“My grandparents had very thick accents, not dissimilar to my character’s,” Brody said. “I was steeped in it through my whole childhood. … I remember very clearly the sound and rhythm of speaking beyond the dialect, and I think it was very helpful for me.”
Following the movie's critically lauded debut at Venice Film Festival, where it won best director, “Brutalist” is now shaping up to be a major awards season player in categories such as best picture, actor and supporting actor (Pearce, a deliciously funny yet terrifying scene-stealer).
The film will be released in theaters Dec. 20.
veryGood! (2958)
Related
- Blake Lively’s Inner Circle Shares Rare Insight on Her Life as a Mom to 4 Kids
- CIA Director William Burns to travel to Europe for fourth round of Gaza hostage talks
- In wintry Minnesota, there’s a belief that every snowplow deserves a name
- 3 people found dead inside house in Minneapolis suburb of Coon Rapids after 911 call
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Sundance Festival breakthroughs of 2024: Here are 14 new films to look forward to
- Nicole Kidman couldn't shake off her 'Expats' character: 'It became a part of who I was'
- Gwendoline Christie Transforms Into a Porcelain Doll for Maison Margiela's Paris Fashion Week Show
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- 'Heartless crime': Bronze Jackie Robinson statue cut down, stolen from youth baseball field
Ranking
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- Jurgen Klopp announces he will step down as Liverpool manager at end of the season
- Mississippi’s top court says it won’t reconsider sex abuse conviction of former friar
- Man arrested outside Taylor Swift’s NYC home held without bail for violating protective order
- Breaking debut in Olympics raises question: Are breakers artists or athletes?
- Pamper Yourself With a $59 Deal on $350 Worth of Products— Olaplex, 111SKIN, First Aid Beauty, and More
- Adult Film Star Jesse Jane, Who Appeared in Entourage, Dead at 43
- Britney Spears’ 2011 Song “Selfish” Surpasses Ex Justin Timberlake’s New Song “Selfish”
Recommendation
Olympic men's basketball bracket: Results of the 5x5 tournament
Remains found on serial killer's Indiana estate identified as man missing since 1993
Harry Connick Sr., longtime New Orleans district attorney and singer’s dad, dies at 97
Travis Kelce Shares Conversation He Had With Taylor Swift About Media Attention
Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
Morgan Wallen's version: Country artist hits back against rumored release of 2014 album
From 'Underdoggs' to 'Mission: Impossible 7,' here are 10 movies you need to stream right now
After Kenneth Smith's execution by nitrogen gas, UN and EU condemn method