After The Brutalist won three Golden Globe awards, it's piqued the interest of potential viewers who want to know if it's a true story and where they can watch it.
There's been a huge buzz going around about The Brutalist for some time, and taking home multiple Golden Globes has cemented the film's place in people's minds and fuelled their need to find out more about it. The epic period drama was written and directed by Brady Corbet and has a running time of a whopping three hours 35 minutes. Actor Adrien Brody is at the helm, supported by an excellent cast of equally recognisable names.
Although thematically more rich than a quick synopsis can convey, the film follows Brody's Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor, László Tóth, who finds himself in post war US. Living in poverty, he works to revive his distinguished career with the assistance of the eccentric Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce.) While Van Buren recognises Tóth’s gifts, acknowledging his own mediocrity reveals a bigoted and violent dark side. Many who've already seen the film wondered if it was based on a true story, and those who haven't want to know where they can watch this cinematic masterpiece.
Is The Brutalist based on a true story?
The Brutalist isn't based on a true story, and writer Brady Corbet and his co-writer, Mona Fastvold, even went to great lengths to avoid any overlap at with with real historical figures at all. According to The New York Times, the pair consulted the now deceased architecture historian Jean-Louis Cohen, to be sure no architect emerged from the war with a career like László’s.
"We wanted to talk about these bigger concepts," Fastvold told the publication, adding, "and if you’re locked into a real person, then it’s harder to do so because you’re married to what happened to them vs. just looking at this period in time and the relationship between postwar psychology and postwar architecture."
Although taking great pains to ensure Although László's life had no basis in real life, Corbet was inspired to write the screenplay after reading the Hilary Thimmesh book Marcel Breuer and a Committee of Twelve Plan a Church, specifically covering a Hungarian-born architect’s designs.
Also of course, while the work is entirely a matter of fiction, the writers had to ensure historical facts were correct - a particular interview with Marcel Breuer was particularly informative for this purpose. "When he talks about his experience of coming to America and how alienated he felt, there were all these things that just really fed into our conception of the character," Corbet explained.
Breuer’s real work also acted as a reference for the crew as they began to visualise what László's architecture might look like. Aside from being historically authentic in its portrayal of building structures and time frames, audiences will be sure not to find any similarities with any person who was alive during the period the movie is set.
How to watch The Brutalist in the UK
The Brutalist is set for a cinematic release in the UK on Friday January 24, 2025. Gather your friends, get a large portion of popcorn (and possibly an extra cushion for that lengthy running time,) and prepare for this cinematic treat.
The Brutalist isn't streaming anywhere in the UK either at the moment, and a streaming date will follow on from the film's run in theatres - we'll keep you informed.
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