www.hollywoodreporter.com: “It’s not all Brutalism,” reads the bio line on production designer Judy Becker’s Instagram. “It’s pictures of my black cat, too.” Years before director Brady Corbet hired Becker to help him realize the designs of his fictional protagonist, architect László Tóth, in The Brutalist, Becker was a devoted fan of the concrete-heavy, minimalist style, sharing buildings that appealed to her on her social media account.
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This process was very interesting to read about. I felt like it was different from other processes I have read about this year on this page. The way Becker describes her process and relationship to the work is so methodical and yet calming. It seems as though she designs and creates so effortlessly but also with immense attention to detail. I didn’t feel like this article provided great pictures, so I searched up the library from the film in another tab, and it is amazingly clean and soothing. I usually do not like more “modern” and “brutalist” architecture, I am a sucker for some high ceilings and old wood, but this was actually very appealing to me. It wasn’t too much, but it also wasn’t too little, meaning it didn’t really feel empty. It is also amazing to me how designers can create from nothing. Becker mentions that the script she was given was “more metaphorical than practical” and that she “couldn’t wrap [her] head around how that was going to work.” However, despite her feeling like this, she produced an amazing design which catered and served the story and is now up to win some big awards.
Judy Becker is a perfect example of the importance of having a certain passion and style as an artist. Her Instagram is even primarily dedicated to brutalism (and her cat). I think it’s truly incredible how she incorporated the protagonist, Toth's experiences of the Holocaust into his designs, without Toth being based on a real architect. And doing so with a smaller scenic budget than the other 9 of the top 10 movies of 2024 is incredible! I’ve never seen the movie, but looking at the photos in the article, there’s a clear connection between his trauma and how it shows in his art that’s truly incredible, even though it’s so minimalist. I did a little more digging of photos outside of this article, and I found a photo of Toth standing in the middle of the library. It is so uncanny and empty, yet serene. This seems like such a raw and interesting movie that I will be sure to watch.
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