This sounds highly ambitious. Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” which completed production in the summer of 2023, is 3 hours 35 minutes. This morning, it was announced in Venice competition and will be competing for the Golden Lion.
“The Brutalist” was originally supposed to star Vanessa Kirby, Mark Rylance and Marion Cotillard. Sadly, because of all the delays this film’s had, we have a new batch of actors replacing them. It looks as though we’ll now have to settle with Adrian Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones. Not too shabby. The plot synopsis:
A visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern America. However, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious and wealthy client.
Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera revealed during the press conference that the screening at Venice will include a 15-minute intermission. The film was shot on Vista Vision by cinematographer Lol Crawley in 70mm. The main thematic reference for the film is King Vidor’s 1949 “The Fountainhead,”
The film was announced back in September of 2020 and ever since then had been plagued by delays. I’m glad it’s finally being shown. Corbet has directed two films, including 2018’s “Vox Lux,” which caused a real stir at Venice — very strong first half, but ambitiously missed second half was my verdict. It still showcased an immensely talented filmmaker who had already shown great promise with his first film, 2015’s “The Childhood of A Leader.”