‘The Brutalist': Searchlight & Sony Pictures Classics in Contention to Acquire Brady Corbet's Acclaimed Epic [TIFF]

Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” is the most acclaimed film of the fall fests, and this morning’s press screening at TIFF only reinforced that notion. It might even win the Golden Lion tomorrow at Venice.

And yet, “The Brutalist” still has no U.S. distributor, even though it’s being touted as a major contender for next year’s Oscars. Part of the issue has to do with the runtime, and how to sell such a grandiose and uncommercial 245-minute film, which includes a 15-minute intermission, to a wide enough audience.

Word around Toronto is that there is indeed interest for “The Brutalist.” As we speak, Sony Pictures Classics and Searchlight are the frontrunners to nab Corbet’s epic, but it might very well come down to which studio is willing to spend the most money on such a unique, old-school and, at times, challenging film.

Corbet’s 3-hour 35-minute film was met with rousing approval at Toronto, and there’s good reason for that. This is as ambitious a film as you are likely to see this fall — a sprawling look at the ups and downs of a Holocaust-surviving architect’s journey in America.

His name is László Tóth and he’s played by Adrien Brody in the kind of towering performance that cannot be shaken off. Ditto Guy Pearce as hot-tempered millionaire Harrison Lee Van Buren who befriends László and hires him to build a cathedral in his mansion grounds.

Felicity Jones plays László’s wife, still stuck in war torn Europe with her niece, and writing letters to her husband, desperately asking him to find a way to get her to America. Meanwhile, László’s journey isn’t for the faint of heart; In a demanding role, Brody’s skillful balancing act, infusing his character with sincerity, madness and ambition, is extraordinary.

The screenplay by Corbet and Mona Fastvold is densely layered. Daniel Blumberg’s score is quite possibly the best one I’ve heard all year. The production design is authentic and to die for. As for the intermission, it accentuates how masterful the first half of the film is, whereas the second half, which takes a more intellectual approach, is merely great.

Set over several decades, Corbet's immigrant saga is so meticulously constructed that, despite a few narrative lapses, you can’t help but be astonished by the sheer audacity of it all. I was rarely bored. The film is stunningly shot by cinematographer Lol Crawley in VistaVision no less, and some of the shots concocted, the audacious movements of the camera and editing, will make your jaw drop.