The Brutalist: A Blueprint for Jewish Survival

Reviewing the Jewishness of Brady Corbet‘s epic film, The Brutalist.

This Drop is in memory of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz. May their lives be remembered for their journeys, not their destinations. Journeys full of motherly embraces and of helping others, of smiles, laughter, and kindness. May their memories be a blessing. 🕯️

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The following contains spoilers for the movie The Brutalist. You have been warned!

Hi! This week, I spent four hours in the theater watching The Brutalist, and by the time I got out, it felt like half of my life passed before me. Yet, I’m still thinking about the film days later, so I can’t totally fault director Brady Corbet.

In an industry that has produced famous Holocaust films and Holocaust remembrance films (like my fav Oscar nom this year, A Real Pain!), it’s rare to see a major motion picture centered on post-Holocaust life—especially one slated to win best picture.

But Jewishness is merely a backdrop in this American epic that tells a story of power, the American dream, capitalism, and storytelling through art (or in this case, architecture).

If The Brutalist’s opening scene of an upside-down Lady Liberty doesn’t foreshadow Holocaust survivor László Tóth’s struggle of making it in America, then I don’t know what does.

The Hungarian Jew (masterfully played by Adrien Brody; it’s like The Pianist 2!), once a famous architect in Europe, must rebuild his life from scratch while waiting for his wife and niece to sail to America. During his series of unfortunate events, he gets kicked out of his cousin’s home for being falsely accused of making a pass at his cousin’s Catholic wife, suffers from heroin addiction, and faces abuse of power at the hands of his employer, which includes antisemitism and sexual assault.

When his wife and niece finally make it to America, they have “other” written all over them, with Erzsébet confined to a wheelchair due to osteoporosis, and Zsófia mute from trauma.

But if you’re reading this, I’m sure you know all this already, and I’ve had a busy week so I need to move this post along! Let’s delve into the Jewishness of the movie, shall we?

Israel or America: Where Do Jews Belong?

First, how ‘bout that tense dinner conversation when Zsófia announces that she and her husband wish to make aliyah and move to Israel? Erzsébet reacts with defensiveness, saying she and László must not be real Jews for living in America. This begs the question of where Jews belong, in Leopoldstadt fashion. Are they meant to settle in their indigenous homeland now that it’s an established state and a safe haven for Jews after all they endured? Or does America, a land of opportunity, provide a fresh start in an already established country? Can Jews have it both ways? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Did the movie have Zionist undertones? Some reviews claim so, while others argue that the epilogue carries subtle anti-Zionist tones, since Zsófia supposedly twists her uncle’s words when he can no longer speak for himself, but we’ll get to that ending in a bit.

One could say it had overtones of Zionism, as David Ben-Gurion reciting Israel’s Declaration of Independence plays over a montage. Either way, when the harsh realities and discrimination of American life lead Erzsébet to consider making aliyah as well, the movie seems like it made up its mind on the Israel question, at least how it was perceived by American Jews in the 1950s. Eerie how history repeats itself, but we’ll get to that point in a minute as well.

Reuniting with Family: A Comparison to Today

By the end of the film, I became friendly with the woman sitting next to me (you get the chance to do that when your film comes with a 15-minute intermission). When the second act starts and László is reunited with his family, my movie theater neighbor commented that the scene was reminiscent of the videos we’ve been seeing of freed hostages reuniting with their loved ones.

Filmed in 2023, this could have been the film’s intention from the early days of freed hostages, but probably not. Sometimes we can’t help but insert ourselves into art to understand it better, or to find comfort in knowing our experiences are not ours alone to bear.

Still, living through Israel’s current war reminds us that history repeats itself, especially Jewish history. And during a tense week of awaiting to hear the fate of the Bibas family (when watching the film, we still didn’t know), it was nice to connect with a stranger. Now that we know the horrible news, I wish this mainstream film was even more Zionist.

Yom Kippur and America’s Sins

I’d be remiss to skip the overtly Jewish synagogue scenes, especially the Yom Kippur Vidui prayer and the theme of atonement. I don’t have anything profound to say about these scenes, but this article does. Let’s move onto antisemitism!

A Leech on Society

Throughout the film, László faces mainly antisemitic micro-aggressions rather than overt antisemitism, but he is othered nonetheless. Comments include how his accent makes him sound like a shoeshiner, how his presence is merely tolerated, and how he is leech on society. Jews are also referred to as “your people” to him and he is taken advantage of and sexually assaulted. Welcome to America.

This left me wondering… was it really this bad for Jewish immigrants in post-Holocaust America? We know the U.S. had an antisemitic past before the Holocaust, with the 1915 murder of Leo Frank and prominent figures like Henry Ford spreading anti-Jewish propaganda.

The Brutalist inspired me to look up the subject, and I hope you’re inspired to do the same. In short (even though the subject deserves a lengthy description but like I said, busy week!), it became uncool to publicly express antisemitism because of the Holocaust, and the relationship between Jews and Christians was strengthened. I don’t doubt immigrants like László faced the level of prejudice and abuse he faced, but I think other factors could have played into it, like the fact that they were poor and desperate for any work, so they were easy to take advantage of and look down on.

The Journey, or the Destination?

The movie ends in 1980 at a ceremony honoring László’s life’s work. In his old age, he is now the one who is wheelchair bound, unable to speak most likely due to a stroke. His wife is clearly no longer alive, and he is honored by his niece who reveals that his greatest project—a community center for Van Buren that is much of the focus of the movie—was actually based on his time in Buchenwald.

This is when Zsófia quotes her uncle by saying, “Don’t believe what the authors sell you… it’s about the destination, not the journey.” I do not remember him saying this to her; it must have been when I dozed off just before intermission. But it makes for a thought-provoking ending.

What does this cliché reversal mean to us as the viewer? One interpretation is a strong Zionist message, since the quote is retold by a character who rebuilt her life in Israel after enduring unspeakable trauma. She chooses not to define her life by her journey but by her destination. One might assume that László, like many other Jews, ultimately find refuge there as well since he agrees to follow his wife. But again, I could be projecting my own perspective onto the story. When the movie ended, I turned to my neighbor and said, “So the take away is we should all move to Israel, right?”

However, I’m not satisfied with this theory because it makes the ending all about Zsófia, who is not the main character of this story.

A different interpretation is that Zsófia misconstrues her uncle’s words, applying something he said a long time ago to later in his life about his finished project. If life is truly about the destination (László’s building), this ignores the journey (his trauma), which not only shaped him but is what fueled his creativity in the first place. The big reveal that the community center was in fact based on Buchenwald and László is unable to speak about it reinforces the movie’s themes of power dynamics, suffering, and capitalism. Yay!

Whatever you thought of this ambiguous ending and of the film in general, let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear your opinions! See you on Oscars Night.

Alexa, play “One for You, One for Me” by La Bionda. 🎵

Shabbat Shalom. Be nice to each other,