A classic adage proclaims the art of writing about music is akin to dancing about architecture; conversely, critiquing a movie featuring a modernist minimalist designer upending conventions is a particularly apt parallel for unpacking Brady Corbet’s ambitious 215-minute period piece The Brutalist (A). Filmed especially for 7O millimeter VistaVision large-screen formats including narrative divided into two acts and a well-placed 15-minute intermission, this is a consummate cinematic banquet and in nearly all ways an absolute masterpiece. Like the iconic building style of its title, the film’s characters captured by Lol Crawley’s creative cinematography are angular and exposed, and the movie’s lens on the historic American immigrant experience bitingly bleak. Escaping postwar Europe, fictional visionary architect Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) emigrates to rebuild his life, his career and his marriage to Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) in the US of A. On his own in a strange new land (Pennsylvania), Laszlo encounters industrialist magnate Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who recognizes his talent. There are twists and turns along the journey, which is consistently imagined in full. The film’s length and one-two punch structure adds to the epic nature of watching the main character’s vastness of experiences across decades. The production design by Judy Becker evokes authenticity in the story’s primary epoch of the 1940s through ’60s, and there are some stunning building and room configurations on display in the story, worthy of the titular architect. Daniel Blumberg’s urgent music adds to the intrigue and pageantry. The performances are roundly amazing with Brody in career-best mode as a complex man who is both optimistic and mercurial. This film is a grand experience, and even the loose ends from its labyrinthine plot will stimulate conversations. This will be a movie categorized with some of the great modern classics such as There Will Be Blood and The Power of the Dog.