Why THE BRUTALIST deserves to win Best Picture
& what it reveals about the unholy alliance of Art & Commerce. Plus, 🎟️ our next Movie Club event - mark your calendars!
“Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper.
Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. And they’re very beautiful.” - David Lynch
The world lost a visionary filmmaker in David Lynch, who passed away on January 15. He opened my heart and mind to the possibilities of cinema… To how it can go beyond the ordinary and obvious, into the soul.
One of my favorite films of the year, The Brutalist, does precisely that - but before we dive in, let’s plan our next Movie Club event, where we’ll celebrate Lynch’s legacy together.
🎟️ Our next Movie Club event - LIVE!
Our second “watch party” here at The Lighthouse will feature The Straight Story.
At first glance, it’s an oddly straightforward film for Lynch, considering his reputation as a provocateur and surrealist. But for a time, he felt it was his most experimental.
The Straight Story follows an older man who embarks on a long journey atop a riding lawnmower. It’s a simple, heartfelt, G-rated Disney movie - no, seriously, I’m not kidding! - that’s inspired by true events and bursting with compassion. I’m keen to explore how The Straight Story both diverges from and fits into Lynch’s canon.
This will be my first time watching The Straight Story, so we’ll be breaking it down together! Like in our Interstellar screening a few weeks back, we’ll hang out, network, trade stories, and discuss the film’s art and craft in real-time.
Join us for lively discussion and camaraderie with kindred spirits, whether we wind up with an intimate gathering or a full house!
This event is exclusively for paid subscribers. If you’ve already upgraded, then you’re all set - simply follow the instructions here at the appointed time below.
(Please note that you’ll need your own copy of the film if you want to watch along with us, but you’re welcome to tune in regardless).
WHEN: Saturday, February 08, starting at 10:30am EST. We’ll catch up for half an hour, then begin watching together promptly at 11:00am EST.
WHAT: A virtual “watch party” of David Lynch’s THE STRAIGHT STORY.
OVERTURE: In search of the Big Fish
Oscar Season is in full swing, friends!
Although Emilia Pérez leads the pack with 13 nominations, the true star for me is director Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. It’s a titan of a film that proudly and unapologetically goes after “the big fish”, to borrow Lynch’s terminology.
For that, it’s been honored with 10 nominations.
I was lucky enough to catch a 70mm projection of The Brutalist at The American Film Institute’s flagship cinema in Washington, DC - twice!
In making The Brutalist, Corbet resurrected a near-extinct widescreen format called VistaVision. It was introduced by Paramount Pictures in 1954 and used to capture some of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films, including Vertigo and North by Northwest.
The larger negative is eight-perf, effectively doubling the size of a traditional 35mm frame. This unique perspective enabled Corbet and his cinematographer, Lol Crawley, to capture the film’s expansive architecture without wide-angle lenses.
“The best way to photograph architecture is with rectilinear lenses that don’t distort the buildings themselves,” Crawley explains:
You can also shoot the most beautiful portraits on the format. Essentially, you’re encompassing two different things: You have the shallower depth of field of a longer lens, but also the field of view of a wider lens.
It’s a bold choice for a bold film, whose ambition among this year’s Best Picture nominees is rivaled only by Dune: Part Two, a blockbuster with the soul of an arthouse film. I had the privilege of seeing Dune four times on the big screen and expect to revisit it soon, but for now, let’s bring The Brutalist into focus.
We have a lot of ground to cover together as we take stock of the craft; go behind-the-scenes of how Corbet’s film was independently financed (and what the implications may be for the indie filmmakers among us); and explore why humans even bother creating art in the first place. So make yourself a cup of coffee, or tea, or whatever beverage is most suited to the time, and let’s get going!
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