Adrien Brody may win second Oscar for ‘The Brutalist’

NEW YORK – Adrien Brody He came back with the best performance of his career.

22 years after his Oscar win for “The Pianist,” the 51-year-old actor may well receive a second gold statue for his great work in “The Brutalist.” New York Film Festival Saturday. The haunting historical epic, 3.5 hours long (with a 15-minute intermission), follows the trail of a Hungarian-Jewish architect named László Tóth (Brody) who fled to America after World War II and landed in rural Pennsylvania. He struggles to find a job worthy of his unique talent until he meets a wealthy businessman (Guy Pearce) who tasks him with designing and building a lavish community center.

The film is a startling dig into the dark heart of America, showing how people leech off the creativity and culture of immigrants, but rarely love them in return. Speaking to reporters after the early morning screening, Brody spoke of his “personal connection” to the material: His mother, photographer Sylvia Plachy, is also a Hungarian immigrant.

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“My grandparents’ journey was no different,” Brody explained. As a little girl, Plachy and her family fled Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution and took refuge in Austria before moving to New York in 1958. Like László, his parents had “great jobs and a nice house” in Hungary, but they were “starting over”. When they arrived in the United States they were fresh and essentially destitute.

“This is a sacrifice I never take lightly,” Brody said. “To be honored with the opportunity to embody this journey and the complexities of coming to America as an immigrant that reflects something personal, not just for my ancestors, but for so many people; This is all very meaningful. “I feel very lucky to be here.”

“Brutalist” is directed by Brady Corbet (“Vox Lux”) and co-written by Mona Fastvold (“The World to Come”), who was inspired by a variety of real-life architects, including Marcel Breuer, Louis Kahn and Paul Randolph. While creating the character of László. Corbet was not interested in making a biography of any individual.

“This is a way of accessing the past without respecting someone’s right to life,” the filmmaker said. “These details have a way of reminding you of a time when you were less a slave. And for the audience, it confuses them and makes them wonder, ‘Well, did things really happen like that?’ They don’t say. ”

Although the scope of the story is huge – spanning several decades and continents – this ambitious film surprisingly saving $10 million. During the post-screening Q&A, Corbet described how she balanced “minimalism and maximalism” through Daniel Blumberg’s arresting score and Judy Becker’s opulent yet fierce set designs. Brody and Felicity Jones, who plays László’s wife, also shared how they mastered the Hungarian accent and dialogue.

“My grandparents had very thick accents, not that different from my character’s,” Brody said. “I was in this business my whole childhood. … I remember very clearly the sound and rhythm of speech beyond the dialect, and I think that helped me a lot.”

Following the film’s critically acclaimed debut at the Venice Film Festival, where it won best director, “Brutalist” is now a major awards season winner in categories such as best picture, actor and supporting actor (Pearce is wickedly funny yet terrifying). He is preparing to be among the players. scene stealer).

The movie will be released in theaters on December 20.