Brady Corbet, Golden Globes Winner for The Brutalist, Grew Up in Glenwood Springs

Colorado Golden Globe viewers got to see one of their own take home several awards on January 5, when The Brutalist won three awards. Brady Corbet, who directed the film, grew up in Glenwood Springs.

The Brutalist, an awards-season dark horse, focuses on the story of a Jewish architect played by Adrien Brody, who moves to America in the 1950s after World War II. Brody won Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for his performance, while Corbet won Best Director, Motion Picture. The Brutalist won Best Motion Picture, Drama, so Corbet got to make two speeches on a big night.

Below Corbet's name as he walked up to accept his award for directing, the screen declared that he grew up working in a  bookstore in Glenwood Springs, while noting that Corbet's hometown is in Colorado.

Corbet has spoken about how book authors he discovered while working in Glenwood Springs influence his approach to directing. According to the New Yorker, Corbet moved to Glenwood Springs with his mother when he was seven. After his 2018 film Vox Lux came out, Corbet discussed how the movie's themes about the normalization of horrible events like school shootings were influenced by growing up in the state where the Columbine shooting and the murder of JonBenét Ramsey occurred.

"I remember how unique that event seemed at the time, how shocking, disturbing the scale of it," Corbet said to Den of Geek about Columbine. "It was unimaginable to me twenty years ago that that even would become commonplace. The idea that something like this has happened almost every day of the year in this country is beyond my reckoning."

Corbet doesn't shy away from making statements with his work, and at the Golden Globes, he said that making The Brutalist was no exception. The movie has a three-hour-and-35-minute runtime, with an intermission built in.

"I was told that this film was undistributable," Corbet said during his Best Picture acceptance speech. "I was told that no one would come out and see it. I was told the film wouldn’t work. I don’t resent that, but I want to use this as an opportunity to lift up filmmakers — not just my fellow nominees, but all of the extraordinary directors in this room."

Corbet's movie that he was told "wouldn't work" now leads the odds to win Best Picture at the Oscars, according to DraftKings and Bet365. If the odds hold up, it could be another big victory for Colorado...which hasn't had a lot of cinematic wins lately.

And that Glenwood Springs bookstore? It appears to be closed.