Whether it be Robert Rodriguez making El Mariachi for just $7,000 or Godzilla Minus One looking like a big Hollywood epic with only a $15 million budget, it’s quite the feat when filmmakers are able to stretch a dollar. This year’s Venice Film Festival darling, A24’s The Brutalist, is a 3-and-a-half-hour drama shot on 70mm and it was made for under $10 million. The Brutalist was a sensation at this year’s Venice Film Festival, garnering a 12-minute standing ovation and winning the Silver Lion, which goes to the film’s director, in this case Brady Corbet. Although originally known as an actor (notably giving a terrific performance in Michael Haneke’s Funny Games remake), Corbet has been making his mark behind the camera. He co-wrote The Brutalist with longtime partner Mona Fastvold.
According to Deadline, Corbet would explain how he made this film with such a budget at a CAA screening. He made sure to note, “We’re not reinventing the wheel. The reality is that we would have been happier and more comfortable if we had more money.” He expounded, “It came at a great personal, physical expense at times because the number of sleepless nights in the last seven years. You have to have blind faith for getting this thing which is completely malnourished across the finish line.” One of Corbet’s advantages was to use the benefits of tax credits when shooting the film in Hungary.
Corbet explained, “We were shooting in a country where things would cost what they really should cost. Hungary is not that cheap where we shot. It’s cheaper than New York City where we spent $1M in transpo on the last movie.” He added, “We want to be in control of how sand is moved around in the box. We think money is frequently misspent; a reality that all of us exist in. I don’t think I’m overstepping by saying that. But also to make this movie for this amount of money meant that it was a real sacrifice from our HODs (heads of departments).”
JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray loved the film and stressed that the 70mm should be experienced when he said in his review, “However, it also demands to be seen theatrically, as more than any movie since Oppenheimer, it’s been designed to be enjoyed as a cinematic event – and those belong on the big screen. Hopefully, audiences can see it how intended, as this is pretty close to being a masterpiece.”
The Brutalist is slated for a December 20 limited release.