Van Buren's Family Story and the Unsigned Check
from The Brutalist
Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
Harrison Van Buren recounts a cold and calculated story about his estranged grandparents to Laszlo Toth, revealing his ruthless nature under the guise of filial piety. The scene highlights the power dynamics and moral vacuum of the wealthy elite as Van Buren describes withholding a large sum of money simply because he was unimpressed by his relatives' reaction.
VAN BUREN: I was married once and she gave me two beautiful children. Nevertheless, my mother Margaret and the twins demanded my attention—every minute of my scarce personal time. Things became awkward between my ex-wife and Margaret so we separated amicably. Margaret raised me on her own in Rochester. Just the two of us. Her parents had disowned her for 'a child out of wedlock,' so she was my only real family.
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