Earlier this evening HE spoke to the remarkable Eddie Ginley, film maven, HE correspondent and longtime resident of Melbourne, Australia. The primary topic was Brady Corbet‘s The Brutalist.
Ginley is a fan but on a limited basis — “Impressed by certain aspects, but other aspects are frustrating,” he said. We kicked it all around, and dipped every so often into other topics.
Random thoughts and jabs: (a) The Brutalist announces itself as a major film by way of the 215-minute length, an overture, the use or VistaVision and a grand thematic indictment (European ingenuity and creativity vs. American arrogance, dominance and short-tempered impatience; (b) Why did I feel so much empathy for Brody in The Pianist and none for him here?; (c) What’s up with the heroin habit?; (d) unfair as it sounds, I’ve never liked Brady Corbet — I’ve disliked his vibe since Funny Games and Lars von Trier‘s Melancholia — hated him in Simon Killer; (e) Many if not most critics feel that Corbet managing to shoot an “epic”-sized film for only $9.6 million warrants special respect, or so it seems from this corner.
The discussion lasted roughly an hour. I’ve broken it down into two parts.
If any other HE big-mouths want to engage in one-on-one discussions on any topic, I’ll be happy to pick up the phone and post an audio file. 30 to 45 minutes, something like that
Part 1:
Part 2:
