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Directed by Brady Corbet,The Brutalist(2024) is a testament to how a filmmaker can be economical with his projects, without it affecting the quality of the final draft. Starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, and more,The Brutalisttells the story of the fictional Jewish architect, László Tóth, who survives the Holocaust and moves to the Land of the Free to live the American Dream.
Despite the fact that the historical drama has a runtime we don’t get to see often these days, its budget will have your jaw dropped to the floor. In a recent interview, Joe Alwyn opened up about how the director managed to pull off the feat with such elegance.
Joe Alwyn on how Brady Corbet made The Brutalist on alimited budget
Joe Alwynstars as the entitled young son of Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), László Tóth’s (Adrien Brody) most important client. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, he and the interviewer discussed Brady Corbet’s budget forThe Brutalist,which will be shocking to most.
And why is the budget so shocking? Well, simply because Corbet managed to make a 3.5-hour-long film on a budget of a mere $9.6 million. Talking toLe Cinema Club, Corbet revealed,
We had to move sand around in the box accordingly because large-format is more expensive than a standard 3-Perf 35mm. But, even on a budget of9.6 milliondollars, with enough material to make a three-and-a-half-hour movie out of it, we were able to figure it out…
This is rather amusing considering the fact that a movie likeBrie Larson’sThe Marvels(2023) was made on a reported budget of a whopping $374 million (viaForbes) for a runtime of only 1 hour 45 minutes.
The Brutalist Review: An Incredible American Epic For the Ages
Alwyn opened up about how Brady was able to pull this move off successfully. He complimented the director on being“economical”and smart with his ideas. TheStars at Noonactor stated,
It’s like the price of some episodes of TV these days! I think he’d obviously had it in his mind for so long that he knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he needed to shoot it, just in terms of the time constraints. And so when we got on set, he shot it almost as he edited it. I don’t mean he was editing it at night, but what you see is what was pieced together on the day. He was very economical.
Clearly, Brady is a masterclass in making the most out of limited resources. He was also able to do this thanks to his brilliant actors pulling off one-take shots with practiced ease.
Brady Corbet shotThe Brutalistin single takes
While some directors may prefer doing takes on takes to achieve the utmost perfection, Corbet decided that his actors would have to make do with single takes. Of course, it is not easy to do so but with a lineup so talented, anything is possible.
Adrien Brody: ‘The Brutalist begins almost where The Pianist ended’ on His Hollywood Confession After Bagging Best Actor at Just 29
Thus, the film was able to reach fruition on a budget that didn’t even touch ten million dollars. Despite it all, no one felt rushed on set.
Alwyn said,
Everything’s in one take, which looks great, but it also saves time — you don’t have to do lots of coverage and turnarounds. So, he knew he was up against the clock, but also perhaps that some of those restrictions favored his creative sensibility for the film. It never felt madly rushed on set.
As for how much Alwyn enjoyed filming this way, he admitted he“really liked it.”It was both daunting and juice and while the pressure was there, he felt like he was acting for theatre which was“quite nice”according to him.
Despite the small budget,The Brutalistmanaged to impress both critics and fans and the film currently stands at93% scoreon Rotten Tomatoes.
The Brutalistis currently in theatres.
Mishkaat Khan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2257
A connoisseur of all things horror, fantasy, and the occasional chick flick, Mishkaat has been penning pieces for FandomWire since 2022. She started off as an intern and has worked her way up to a Senior Writer with over 2000 articles to her name.Outside of entertainment, she has also written well-researched medical content as a freelance writer and has experience in social media management.When not writing, you can find her relaxing with a romance novel and a tall glass of iced coffee in her hand or watching re-runs of ‘Supernatural’ and ‘The Office.’
