Playing in glorious 70mm at the IFI now, released more widely from Friday. Directed by Brady Corbet (Vox Lux, Childhood of a Leader) and starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce.
Have been going back and forth on this since seeing it over the weekend. The film opens with huge pomp in an overture, as a wonderfully momentous score from Daniel Blumberg roars as the camera woozily captures the arrival of the protagonist - an accomplished Hungarian architect fleeing Europe - arrives in New York. An epic of the immigrant experience in America this very much is, and for the first half it plays some big, bold notes with conviction.
This is a Brady Corbet film, so suffice to say it’s not quite as straightforward as it initially appears, and any myths hinted at in part one are very much dismantled as the film progresses. The film is split into two with a built-in interval, and the second half certainly takes a few wilder swings. Some land, some I reckon come across as something of an overreach. Some of its thematic concerns are well explored, others not so much (one metaphor about the relationship between capitalism and art goes very far indeed). Don’t expect a simple clean resolution to some of what’s established early on, though do expect some curious callbacks and an epilogue that adds some intriguing context that maybe comes too late in the game.
It’s a lot of film - grandiose in some regards, though surprisingly intimate over all (the beautiful 70mm photography is as concerned with shadowy close-ups as it is with epic feats of architectural prowess). The performances shoot for a lot and mostly hit the mark, though I think Guy Pearce is the most successful of the three leads - he goes *really big*, and what the performance maybe loses in realism as a result it certainly makes up for with character moments that are often hilarious and others that earn a genuine gasp.
Again, this is a Corbet film, so no surprise it’s as ambitious as it is messy. I for one don’t think it entirely works to be honest, but it’s certainly an audacious film painted on a very large and impressive canvas (looks like it cost ten times its actual budget). It’s a moonshot of a film from Corbet, and he made it to orbit even if he didn’t ace the landing.
