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00:00One of the film's main themes is about a patron that is not satisfied to possess an artist's
00:07body of work.
00:09He's compelled to possess the artist himself.
00:12When dogs get sick, they often bite the hand of those who fed them, until someone mercifully
00:19puts them down.
00:20You've come out of this claustrophobic environment in New York and this claustrophobic relationship
00:26as well.
00:27Very, very intense.
00:29Carrera Marble, for me, represents this material that should probably not be possessed.
00:41The two clips from the film that we're going to be discussing, the first of which is the
00:47second scene of The Brutalist.
00:50Essentially, Adrian being awoken inside of a space and we're not entirely clear where
00:57he is.
00:58It's very dark.
00:59There are hundreds of bodies.
01:02It could be a passenger train.
01:04Ultimately, we ascend a staircase with him and move down a corridor and then outside
01:11to the deck of a ship, finally to discover the Statue of Liberty.
01:16It was complicated and it was very complicated, of course, for you to operate because you
01:32were the one operating.
01:33Yeah.
01:34I mean, essentially, it took place on a ship that Judy and Brady had found moored on the
01:41Danube in Budapest.
01:43We had to be very careful not to over-light it because Judy and her team had designed
01:48a lot of the passage that Adrian, that Laszlo, took through the ship.
01:53That was designed and there was choreography with dancers and background actors, but outside
01:58of that, it was really just the belly of the ship.
02:02We had to be very careful not to over-light it.
02:05On the one hand, we wanted it to feel disorientating and confused and mysterious.
02:13That was a challenge.
02:14And then really, it was me following Adrian with a handheld camera.
02:18And then as Brady said, it kind of evolved to this kind of ascension, this up two levels
02:24of these staircases and out on the top of the ship.
02:26I mean, the thing that's interesting is how people have sort of interpreted this in a
02:31way that I'm sure, you know, I just didn't necessarily regard it that way when we filmed
02:37it.
02:38So, you know, people have felt that maybe they're on a train.
02:41Maybe it's in the camps, in the holding camps or even in Dachau, you know, that's where
02:47Adrian is.
02:48When we were filming it, I just didn't necessarily make those associations, you know.
02:53But it's really interesting how that whole sequence really echoes not only his journey
02:59in some ways, Laszlo's journey, but also the kind of architecture of the Institute, you
03:03know.
03:04It's like half of it is buried underground and is fighting to kind of find the light.
03:09And then the top half of the Institute is very much a celebration of bringing the light
03:14in.
03:15Frank Lloyd Wright famously had these sort of mud rooms in many of his residences where
03:19you would enter and as opposed to entering into a sort of grand foyer or something, there
03:26were very low ceilings, there were no windows and it was a place for you to take off your
03:30shoes and take off your coat.
03:33And then as you would ascend the stairs, boom, you know, it would crack wide open and, you
03:40know, there you were left with this sort of, you know, modernist cathedral.
03:45We realized early on in our process that we could not simply present architecture.
03:50We also had to represent architecture.
03:53And so that was something that was always on their minds and it resulted in this extraordinary
03:59sequence shot, very well operated by our pal Lowell here.
04:04The second sequence we're going to be talking about, which is shooting in Carrara.
04:08The Carrara sequence was something that for a variety of mostly philosophical reasons
04:16was something that was very important for me to try and hold on to because, of course,
04:21you know, with our very limited means and a very low budget, it was complicated to
04:28put together an Italian unit to go and and shoot in Carrara.
04:33We ultimately figured out how to do it with a relatively small footprint.
04:37I think we were something like 16 to 18 people that made the trip and it was done with
04:43available light, which is bouncing all over from this white marble in every direction.
04:49And the reason for me that it was so important to shoot the sequence there is that, you
04:54know, for me, one of the film's main themes is about the patron that is not satisfied
04:59to possess an artist's body of work.
05:03He's compelled to possess the artist himself.
05:07And Carrara marble for me represents this material that should probably not be possessed.
05:15And yet it is and it's predominantly possessed by very, very wealthy, wealthy folks.
05:21And this material is used to line kitchens and bathrooms.
05:24And yet, you know, the reality is that in 500 years, it will not exist anymore.
05:30The thing that's so incredible about the marble quarries is that it's incredibly majestic
05:37and it's incredibly beautiful, but it's also a very violent place where there are constant
05:42rock slides and you feel how immense and dangerous the environment is.
05:48It's one of the reasons that not a lot of films have shot there.
05:52As Brady said, we had a very reduced crew, but we were able to take the VistaVision camera,
05:59obviously, it's integral to the entire film.
06:02The scale of the place is, you know, it's really hard to comprehend, even with the human eye.
06:08These kind of like epic biblical John Martin paintings, you know, you know, there's like,
06:16visions of Sodom and Gomorrah where you see them turning into a pillar of salt in the foreground
06:21and then the city burning down below.
06:23I mean, it's the very fact that it's the brutality of mankind upon the landscape.
06:30Oh, it's the environment where the most brutal act upon Laszlo happens, you know,
06:36it's kind of like is kind of genius, you know.
06:40And also, I think it also happens at a point in the movie where you'd,
06:44I think, having seen the movie several times now, as an audience member,
06:49you sort of, you've come out of this quite claustrophobic environment in New York
06:58and this claustrophobic relationship as well,
07:00very, very intense relationship between Azrabet and Laszlo and then,
07:06and you're sort of, it's kind of a breath, you know,
07:10when you sort of, you suddenly, you know, are introduced to Carrera.
07:13It feels like very important at that time in the movie.
07:17And then, obviously, it's a very pivotal moment in the movie in terms of what takes place.
07:23And when we first saw this place,
07:24obviously, we were, we wanted to embrace the majesty of this vista.
07:30When we turned up to shoot it, it was kind of shrouded in fog
07:33and we were sort of alarmed and disappointed, I think, in many ways.
07:38But, you know, the beauty of filmmaking and the beauty of handing this to an audience
07:42is that this could, you know, even as someone who shot the sequence,
07:46I couldn't see this any other way now.
07:48I mean, it has this incredible dreamlike moment as they're choosing the marble
07:54and Guy is sort of fetishistically rubbing himself against the marble
07:59and this mysterious character is leading them,
08:03talking about beating the corpse of Mussolini.
08:06Of course, you know, of course, it has to be shrouded in fog.
08:11Yeah, no, I think that's exactly right.
08:15I mean, filmmaking is a combination of being very nimble and very precise.
08:23And, you know, it's a dance.
08:27I mean, I know that especially Carrera was one of the most memorable events
08:33of not just my filmmaking career,
08:37but it's one of the most memorable moments of my whole life.
08:41And I feel so lucky that the extraordinary people of Carrera
08:48invited us in and supported us.
08:50So I just wanted to say that we are very grateful to all of them
08:56for making us pasta every night and taking such good care of us.
09:01So, all right, that's all for now.
09:04Thanks, Brady.
09:05Thank you, my friend.