The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet, is a scary story about architecture, personal ambition and the weight of history. It takes place after World War II and is about a Holocaust survivor from Hungary named László Tóth (Adrien Brody) who moves to the United States with his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones). The movie shows László’s rise in the world of architecture and how he built a huge modernist monument at the request of a mysterious, rich businessman named Guy Pearce. But the project hurts László’s career and his marriage in a big way. The story looks at human weakness, ambition, and betrayal through the lens of architecture.
A big part of how the movie makes you feel is through the way it tells the story visually. And the artistic expression of the movie comes to life through the carefully chosen places where it was shot. This article goes into more detail about these important filming locations and shows how they affect the overall look and story of the movie.
‘The Brutalist’ Plot Summary
The Brutalist is set in the years after World War II and is about an architect named László Tóth whose personal and professional problems are made worse by the political and social changes in his time. Having lived through the Holocaust, László moves to the United States to start over. After a rough start full of problems, he meets the mysterious industrialist Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who hires him to build a huge modernist monument that will become an iconic part of the city skyline.
There were high hopes for the project and László became more and more obsessed with making it perfect. This made his marriage to Erzsébet difficult. As László gets deeper into his work, he struggles with moral problems, personal problems; and the weight of his traumatic past. The movie looks at ambition, power and how artistic vision can change the way people relate to each other. The buildings in the movie are both a literal and figurative backdrop and each one heightens the tension between what the characters want and what they have to deal with.
Where was ‘The Brutalist’ filmed?
The official start date for filming The Brutalist was March 2023. There had been several delays because of the COVID-19 pandemic and personal matters among the cast and crew. The production was supposed to happen in 2020, but it was pushed back to the first quarter of 2022. Finally, filming began in Budapest, Hungary, in March 2023.
The show moved from Budapest to Italy at the end of April 2023, using the beautiful architectural sites in Venice and Carrara in Tuscany. The filmmakers chose to use the VistaVision process, which is a large-format film method that improves image quality and makes the moviegoing experience more immersive. This method, which was popular in the 1950s, gave the movie a look that went well with its time period. Now let’s talk about the important places that helped make the world of The Brutalist come to life.
Budapest, Hungary All set for Philadelphia
Budapest, the capital of Hungary, was used to film parts of the story that took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Budapest, with its long history and wide range of architectural styles, was the perfect setting for the movie’s look at architecture from the middle of the 20th century.
The film crew spent more than 12 weeks in Budapest, picking out locations that could be used as both Budapest and the American city. With its mix of old-world charm and post-industrial grit, Budapest’s industrial landscape looked a lot like Philadelphia did in the 1950s. Judy Becker, the production designer, said that the city’s architecture, which ranges from Romanesque to Modern, was a big part of making the setting feel like it happened in that time. The worn-out but timeless feel of the city helped create the world of The Brutalist, where the main character’s architectural goals might clash with the realities of their time.
Teleki Square, Budapest
The Teleki Ter Synagogue at 22 Teleki Square is one of the most important places in Budapest. It is a very old building that has been used for religious services and Jewish groups for more than one hundred years. Its long history as a center of culture and community made it a great place for many important scenes in The Brutalist.
The film’s production designer Judy Becker talked about how important it was to pick a location with historical significance.
She said, “it helped that the film was set in an earlier period because there were places in Hungary that looked sort of lost in the past. For example, the industrial area in Budapest looked very similar to the industrial area of Philadelphia in the 1950s.”
This place represents the link between the past and the present in a movie that is mostly about architecture. It is also a key symbol for László’s journey as an architect and as a man figuring out his own troubled past.
Venice, Italy
Venice, Italy’s canals and buildings made for a haunting setting for several scenes in The Brutalist. The movie is mostly about architectural ideals, and Venice, with its beautiful views, intricate palaces, and large buildings is a big part of that. Venice is both a source of ideas for László and a place where he can test his ideas.
Some of the most thoughtful parts of the movie happen at the Venice Architecture Biennale—where László thinks about the direction of his career and the moral cost of his goals. The timeless beauty of Venice shows how important László’s project is and how his ideas about his place in the world are changing. Not only was filming in Venice beautiful to look at, it was also very emotional, because the city’s grand, historical buildings reflect the characters’ complicated feelings.
Carrara, Tuscany: Italy
Some of the most beautiful scenes from The Brutalist were filmed in the Carrara Marble Mine in Tuscany, Italy. In the movie, László and Harrison go to this famous quarry to choose the marble for the monument that will make László famous. The marble from Carrara is very good and it has been used in some of the most famous buildings and sculptures in the world.
The filmmakers had trouble with the location itself. Because the Carrara quarry is a working site, the crew had to be aware of its operational limitations, such as the fact that they had limited access to space and resources. Cinematographer Lol Crawley said that it was hard to shoot in the quarry because there wasn’t enough natural light. The team didn’t use any artificial lighting to keep the location’s natural, unspoiled feel, which made the scenes feel more real. Despite these challenges, the quarry scenes are some of the most visually stunning moments in the film.
The use of the VistaVision process and cameras in The Brutalist makes it stand out. For this method, 35mm film is shot horizontally and then scanned so that it can be used to make 70mm film prints. This method was picked for its usefulness and its good looks. Corbet said, “It just seemed like the best way to access that period (1950s) was to shoot on something that was engineered in that same decade.” The clear widescreen of VistaVision not only makes the visual story better, but it also pays tribute to the time period the movie is set in.
The structure of the movie is also unique. The Brutalist is split into two acts and has a 15-minute break in the middle, similar to how epic movies were made in the middle of the 20th century. This choice makes the movie more true to the time period and gives viewers a chance to think about what’s happening in the story.
Cast and Creators’ Thoughts on the Filming Locations
Both director Brady Corbet and cinematographer Lol Crawley talked about how important the film’s locations were, focusing on how they affected the story’s visual narrative. Crawley, in particular, said that he liked how real the locations were. He said that the natural beauty of places like Venice and Carrara gave the movie’s depictions of architecture and human emotion more depth. He also said that the VistaVision process made it easier to show the size and beauty of these places than it would have been with other formats.
Corbet explained that the choice of locations was deeply intertwined with the themes of the film.
“Architecture is not just a backdrop,” he said. “It’s a character in the story. The places where we filmed—Budapest, Venice, Carrara—are not just beautiful; they are symbolic of the journey these characters are on.”
The places where The Brutalist was filmed are very important to the story and themes of the movie. Each place in the movie has its own meaning, from the dirty factories of Budapest to the timeless beauty of Venice and the rough beauty of the Carrara marble quarries. As László Tóth’s story goes on, the buildings and locations where the movie was shot take on a life of their own, showing the weight of history, the search for artistic perfection; and the personal sacrifices that come with it.
These carefully chosen settings make The Brutalist more than just a story about architecture. They make it a meditation on the power of place, the cost of ambition, and the shadows of the past that are always there.
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