longer thoughts on the brutalist (aka transcribed voice note that i sent to boytoy)
okay i loved it i almost cried and i never cry at movies. maybe the sweetest on screen romance i've ever seen?? it was not what i was expecting at all. i thought it would be much more focused on the war and the brutalist period which i am very interested in so i think for the first 2 hours i was kind of just annoyed that it wasn't focused on that and it definitely takes a while to be anything more than subtle and really get to the point of the movie but once it got there... wow it got so good. adrien brody is an asshole but i used to have such a big crush on him and he was so sweet in this movie that it kinda brought the crush back so i'm going to have to watch him kiss halle berry without consent a few times to get rid of it lol. it's ultimately about the immigrant experience shown through architecture and ugh its so good.
okay going to get nerdy about it: so brutalism is a period of architecture that came after ww2 that's known for like tall concrete buildings because they had to rebuild everything so fast and so cheap since everything was bombed out. the main character laszlo built a ton of these buildings in europe but now hes immigrated to america and he builds the same way but theres much less symbolism and less need for it. but of course theres rich americans who love it and they hire him to live on their property and build them this huge rec center/chapel situation. he gets to have his dream but he's still living on someone elses property and building for someone else. but he makes such a beautiful rec center and a chapel for a religion he doesn't believe in and yes the materials are brutal and there's nothing ornate about it but he makes a beautiful sculpture that turns the sunlight into a beautiful cross when it hits just right and ugh he just fills this brutalist concrete building with so much love and gentleness and he treats all of the americans and all of america with so much love and gentleness and they respond with brutality and ugh its so sad and so beautiful and so good. best picture for sure.
editors note: listening to this back im sure my feelings could use some rethinking as this definitely reeks of "i just finished the movie and i can't think a single negative thought about it" but i think the excitement is kind of beautiful!!