A Sydney family’s connection to ‘The Brutalist’

The Brutalist won Adrien Brody the Best Actor’s Oscar for his mesmerising portrayal of its central character, Hungarian Jewish architect Laszlo Toth. Although Toth is a fictional character, the film’s director said he was drawn from two real-life Hungarian architects, Marcel Breuer and Ernő Goldfinger, predominantly based on the more celebrated Breuer.

For me Breuer is important for another reason: he was part of my extended family. Marcel Breuer and my great uncle Laszlo Buchwald were cousins – their mothers were sisters. But the connection between the two men extends beyond the family tree.

Both Buchwald and Breuer trained in Hungary to be apprentice cabinet-makers. Breuer was two years older than Buchwald and the family doesn’t know if they studied together. However, the training shaped the careers of both men’s lives.