I've seen it since I first posted on this thread.
I really enjoyed it - maybe 'enjoy' is the wrong word, but I'm glad I went to see it and would recommend it. I would say 100% go to see it if you like films in the sense of being interested in film as an art form and are the sort of person who enjoys less mainstream 'art house' sort of films.
My very topline review would be:
this is a very engaging and interesting and thought provoking film. Personally, I could have done without the interval and there was no stage in it when I was looking at my watch and wondering how long to go. No watch checking to me is the sign of a good film.
It's quite slow paced but in a carry you along with it way.
It's beautifully shot and has a lot of really striking imagery that shot by shot as a viewer you can appreciate just as a work of art. I think maybe that's part of the reason it didn't feel long - because as an audience member you don't begrudge the time because it is very striking to look at. It really deserves an Oscar for art direction/production design.
For @ThatMerryReader this is not a holocaust film in anyway. The main character and his wife are Jewish and have survived the holocaust but it doesn't appear in the film at all - there are no scenes set in death camps. It is mentioned in dialogue and there is imagery that draws parallels like USA industrial trains for example but it isn't a holocaust film so don't be detered if you feared it was that subject matter because it isn't. It's more about building a new life and America - and patronage and architecture.
There are a couple of (to my mind) gratuitious male/female sex scenes with some nudity that didn't really add anything substantive and personally I would have cut or made shorter.
It would be a very interesting film for anyone who is or is descended from immigrants who left their birth country and made a life in another country.
The ending was very thought provoking and I think it is one of those films that gets in your mind philosophically - and makes you think about it months afterwards.
All of the lead actors are brilliant - especially Adrian Brody (and I say that as someone who is not a fan of his at all, I find him a bit annoying in other stuff I've seen but he was brilliant in this ) as were Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.
It's not for you if you are more a big blockbuster/want to be entertained and not have to think (easy watching) fan because it is one to engage with mentally.
@NetZeroZealot I wouldn't say it was 'dark and depressing' which I tend to associate with films that make you cry. It isn't a comedy by any stretch and it had a few emotional moments where I could have welled up a bit - but I didn't leave it feeling down or in tears and didn't actually cry. It's more just a story about a few peoples lives that touches on some sad things that happen to many people but has some positivity. Overall it invites you to think about the themes with in it.
If anyone has seen it [SPOILERS/Comment on film content] I'd be interested to know your thoughts on....
what was the point of the bit where he lost his friend in the club and was insisting that he must be still inside because he wouldn't have left him and he got chucked out? [I didn't get this at all - was it to show his drug use? or to show his friend would in fact leave him?]
what was the significance of the song played over the credits with the lyrics One for you one for me? It's a very up beat Italian pop song I wondered if it meant that everything comes with a price - if you take one, I will take one. I read this about it but didn't think it was very insightful.
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/the-brutalist-end-credits-song-explained