What is Adrien Brody's The Brutalist about? Details explored as Adrien Brody historical drama wins Golden Globe

The 82nd Golden Globes Awards triumphant, Adrien Brody's The Brutalist, which bagged three awards including Best Motion Picture—Drama, Best Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama, and Best Director, can be confusing at first given the name. Fans shouldn't expect a Leveque from Ghosted in action.

It is more about the architectural concept called brutalism that first emerged around the 1950s in the United Kingdom as a movement. Adrien Brody plays a Hungarian-Jewish architect who is also a Holocaust survivor seeking work. Guy Pierce and Felicity Jones play supporting roles in the film and were nominated for their performances at the Golden Globes.

Brady Corbet, the film's director, who has also directed Vox Lux recently, explained about the film to Variety in an interview:

"This is a film that tries to take a look at what it would mean to lose everything that you’ve built, what it would do to your psyche. When we think of what was lost during wartime we usually think about the human lives that were lost, but we rarely think of the livelihoods that were lost," he said.

A similar concept was seen in another of Adrien Brody starrer film, The Pianist, for which he won an Academy Award.

Disclaimer: This article contains the writer's opinion. Readers’ discretion is advised.

What is the story of Adrien Brody's The Brutalist?

Adrien Brody's character, László Tóth, is central to the story who arrives in Philadelphia and stays with his cousin. At this point, the Holocaust survivor is separated from his wife and coping with whatever is left with him, which would be the skills he brought with him.

Later in the film, he lands a contract to renovate a part of the home of one wealthy industrialist, namely Harrison Lee Van Buren, played by Guy Pierce. Although he isn't really happy with this renovation, the work is lauded within the architectural community, and he tracks him down to build a community center.

Things appear to be getting on the track but the real evil shows up, followed by Tóth tolerating the humiliation from his employer. He is later reunited with his wife, Erzsébet Tóth, played by Felicity Jones, in the second half of the film. And, the chaos follows.

Though The Brutalist is all about architecture that resonates with the lead character Brody nailed, Guy Pierce's portrayal of Harrison is one 'brutalist' too in the sense that his actions are brutal towards the Hungarian-Jewish architect. The audience will feel it when they see it.

What was the inspiration behind László Tóth's character?

Brady Corbet drew inspiration for László from several architects from the past, including Marcel Breuer, Paul Rudolph, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and more. His name even resonates with the Hungarian American professor, László Moholy-Nagy, who is known for constructivism in his works.

Corbet also told RANGE in an interview about how war can affect someone. He said:

"In the first 10 minutes we understand that [Toth] is impotent following the war and even when he and his wife reconnect, it takes them a long time to physically reconnect."

The Holocaust was something of a nightmare for the European Jews that happened between 1941 and 1945. In the book, Man's Search for Meaning, author Viktor E. Frankl explained how hope was lost among many during this time.

Adrien Brody received an accolade for the best actor in this category, which marks his first in the category of awards. In his Golden Globe speech, he said:

"You know, this story is really the character’s journey is very reminiscent of my mother’s and my ancestors’ journey of fleeing war and coming to this great country."

Guy Pierce and Felicity Jones were nominated for their roles too but they didn't win.