At three and a half hours long with intermission, The Brutalist is a throwback to the kind of monumental Hollywood filmmaking that filled roadshows in the mid-20th century…and you know it. , even more surprising. Corbet made it for indie studio A24 on a budget of about $10 million (turns out it would cost even more to shoot in Hungary and say it was Connecticut!). Its old-fashioned scale and grandeur will appeal to the academy as much as its subject matter. This is the story of a Jewish-American immigrant who follows an architect (Adrien Brody) as he tries to make a fresh start in and around New York City after surviving a Holocaust extermination camp.
But while this concept may appeal to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the film’s rather dark and ultimately cynical look at America’s ability to assimilate and embrace immigrants will likely not. Sure, that sense of fatalism may appeal to the current political climate, but traditionally Oscar voters champion and exalt the human experience, especially when it comes to mythologizing America’s own contributions. I’ve always liked movies that try to By denouncing the capitalist lie of that myth, The Brutalist may gain support from critics who have already won Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Association, but AMPAS Not NYFCC.
The film’s ultimately romantic take on the power of artistic achievement and legacy will speak to the Academy. Still, we think this movie is too heavy (and long) to win the top prize. That said, Brody is expected to be the true frontrunner for Best Actor, with Brady Corbet also plausible to win Best Director despite missing the picture. Guy Pearce is also nominated for Best Supporting Actor, Felicity Jones is also likely to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress, and the film did well in Cinematography and Editing.
conclave
If The Brutalist is the frontrunner for Best Picture on New Year’s Day 2025, it’s Conclave that I personally feel has the momentum and story to win over Academy voters right now. Focus Features and Conclave, both directed by Edward Berger, are a mesmerizing film set during the new pope’s secret (and highly fictionalized) campaign. It’s a political thriller in the middle, a more traditional drama, and an entertaining one.
Ralph Fiennes plays a priest troubled by doubts (are there any other kinds in movies?), whose Father Laurence is forced to oversee the Vatican’s meeting of cardinals to elect the next pope. Conclave is a film about raw power as well as faith, and the film’s depiction of white-collar, ego, and, above all, male conflict, includes the politics of the 21st century between progressivism and reactionary conservatism. The struggle is easily seen.
The song is also a crowd-pleaser that has captivated audiences at every festival it has held. Granted, it didn’t win the top prize in Venice, but I wonder if on the other side of the brutal US election, the highly implausible yet entertaining melodrama of the conclave is now looking like wish-fulfillment. We are suspicious. That’s important in moments of anxiety. Recall that CODA won Best Picture at the tail end of the coronavirus crisis. It beat out critics’ darling “Power of the Dog,” another highly acclaimed but unsavory film, which won Best Picture by the NYFCC, CCA, and numerous other critics groups. It won the Best Picture Award. However, it lost in a shutout at the Academy Awards, beating Jane Campion for the Best Director award. Meanwhile, in the Best Picture category, a consensus on second and even third place selections is achieved through a preferential voting system. In other words, a conclave can be won by having many people chosen as second choice.
