The Brutalist

I'll let you in on a secret - there were two movies that I really hated this year; I knew before seeing them that I would hate them, and after seeing them I really didn't want to write about them at all.  To spare myself the discomfort of writing an extended review for each movie, I came up with a plan; I would write two (2) things I liked, and limit myself to one (1) thing that I didn't like for each movie.  Those two movies were The Substance, and The Brutalist.  Adrien Brody is a great actor, and with that distinction comes the ability to play characters that are completely reprehensible.  I'm not sure whether I'd consider Guy Pearce a great actor, but he also can play a reprehensible character.  Maybe I can cut some time here, and just say that all the actors in this movie prove that they are capable of playing reprehensible characters, it's almost a competition to see who can do it best.  Are there two things that I liked about The Brutalist?  There was one scene in a remote Italian village, where Brody and Pearce's characters meet at a café before heading to the nearby quarry.  The view from the café is of the Italian Alps, and it was starkly beautiful in a film that is otherwise oppressive.  That one of the darkest and most disturbing scenes took place moments later is par for the course in a movie that just won't let you enjoy anything.  I did like the folding bookcases that Brody's character, László Tóth created - I'm not sure that they quite match the aesthetic of his other designs in the film, but I'd definitely like to get my hands on a set of those blueprints.  And now, to my surprise I find out that László Tóth isn't a historical character, which means that the writer/director Brady Corbet invented this entire depressing production - that's just horrible.