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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 Brutalist tells 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.
The Brutalist (2024) | Credits: A24Despite 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 a limited budget
Joe Alwyn in The Brutalist | Credits: A24Joe Alwyn stars as the entitled young son of Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), László Tóth’s (Adrien Brody) most important client. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he and the interviewer discussed Brady Corbet’s budget for The 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 to Le 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 of 9.6 million dollars, 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 like Brie Larson’s The Marvels (2023) was made on a reported budget of a whopping $374 million (via Forbes) for a runtime of only 1 hour 45 minutes.
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. The Stars at Noon actor 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 shot The Brutalist in single takes
Filmmaker Brady Corbet | Credits: TIFF Originals / YouTubeWhile 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.
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 Brutalist managed to impress both critics and fans and the film currently stands at 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Brutalist is currently in theatres.
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