Der Brutalist

In the organizer's words:

DER BRUTALIST (The Brutalist) (DF)

After the end of the Second World War, Jewish architect László Tóth emigrates to the USA to build a new life. He initially finds shelter with his cousin Attila and works in his furniture store. When the two of them are commissioned to redesign the library of the powerful Harrison Lee Van Buren, László senses his chance. But the plan fails. Attila accuses László and puts him on the street, where the immigrant slips deeper and deeper into his morphine addiction. The dream of catching up with his wife Erzsébet, from whom he was separated in the turmoil of the war, seems a long way off - until he meets Van Buren again.

THE BRUTALIST won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2024 Venice International Film Festival and three Golden Globes (Best Film Drama, Best Director, Best Actor) and three Oscars (Best Actor, Best Music, Best Cinematography) in 2025.

Press reviews:

"If THE BRUTALIST were a literary work, it would probably be labeled a novel of the century. Brady Corbet creates such a powerful vision of light, darkness and concrete that the project could realistically only fail completely or turn out to be a self-indulgent, pretentious mummery. But fiddlesticks! DER BRUTALIST is an insanely ambitious and, despite its proud running time, constantly captivating instant classic that suddenly makes pretty much all other cinema biographies, whether of real or imagined people, seem rather insignificant and small." (filmstarts.de)

"DER BRUTALIST is minimalist and monumental at the same time. A movie full of passion that breaks familiar viewing habits in its boldness. [...] Impetuous and daring: a cinematic venture that challenges its viewers." (Cinema)

"Brady Corbet's third directorial effort feels like the cinematic equivalent of the "Great American Novel": a three-and-a-half-hour immigrant epic of visual power that tells of high-flying dreams and despair." (epd-Film)