43/21
When a visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their heritage and witness the birth of modern America, their lives are forever changed by a wealthy and mysterious client. This film has an intermission built into the actual 70mm film with a fifteen-minute countdown. Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr.: When dogs get sick, they often bite the hand of whoever feeds them until someone mercifully puts them down. Appears in The 7PM Project: Episode 10 December 2024 (2024). A Hungarian Jewish architect miraculously manages to escape post-war Europe to America, hoping to build a new life for his family. In his new country, his troubled career goes through several ups and downs before he comes under the wing of a wealthy and alert Pennsylvania industrialist who admires his work and eventually hires him to implement part of his own vision. Adrien Brody gives one of his finest performances as Laszlo Toth, a hard-working, determined immigrant hoping to turn over a new leaf and rebuild his legacy, both literally and figuratively. But it’s Guy Pearce who nearly steals the film with his fierce and charismatic performance as the aristocrat who gives Toth’s work as an architect a second chance. He moves from compassion to vengeance with ease. Brody’s hero is certainly no paragon of virtue. He struggles with drug addiction, occasionally disrespects the chain of command, teeters on the edge of madness, and even alienates some of his closest friends in times of great stress. Ultimately, he’s likable but complex. Director Brady Corbet provides a rich sense of historical context. The only criticism of the film is that it offers only a vague sense of what this pioneering architect did in the long run. The main focus is his first and most ambitious project for this mercurial employer and all the problems that come with it. Nevertheless, it’s one of the finest epics in recent memory and is highly recommended for its all-around excellent work. From Alien: Romulus to Road House, check out some of our favorite posters from 2024.