As it prepares to be a leading contender during awards season, Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” has incited criticism on social media following its editor’s revelation of employing AI in the film.
In a discussion with the tech publication Red Shark News, editor Dávid Jancsó disclosed that Respeecher’s AI tools — a software firm from Ukraine — were utilized to enhance the authenticity of the Hungarian dialogue between stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.
“I am a native speaker of Hungarian, and I recognize it as one of the most challenging languages to learn to pronounce,” Jancsó shared with Red Shark. “It’s a highly distinctive language.” We guided [Brody and Jones], and they performed excellently; however, we wanted to refine it further to ensure that even locals wouldn’t notice any distinction.
Jancsó notes that some words are exceptionally challenging to pronounce, prompting the filmmakers to “initially attempt to ADR these more difficult parts with the actors” to address this issue. “Then we attempted to ADR them entirely with different actors, but that simply didn’t succeed.” “Therefore, we explored alternative ways to improve it.”
Brody and Jones input their voices into the AI software, whereas Jancsó mentioned he contributed his voice to “refine the challenging dialect.”
“Much of their Hungarian conversation includes some of my voice in it,” he remarked. “We took great care in preserving their performances.” It largely involves swapping letters in various places.
Jancsó also disclosed that generative AI contributed to the concluding sequence of “The Brutalist” to produce a “collection of architectural designs and completed structures” reflecting the style of Brody’s character, László Tóth.
Although Jancsó provided an explanation and mentioned the restricted use of AI, the news that “The Brutalist” — acclaimed for its intricately designed cinematic approach — utilized the technology in its production has faced backlash, with numerous users on social media condemning the choice.
A user pointed out that AMPAS’ choice to disqualify Hans Zimmer’s score for “Dune: Part Two” from the Oscars due to its use of music from the original “Dune,” while permitting “The Brutalist” despite its AI-generated dialogue, highlighted inconsistencies. One individual stated that it was a “shame” to utilize AI to “dodge compensating visual artists for their creations” and also to alter the accent of performers, which they claimed was a “core element of… acting.” Variety has contacted Focus Features and Jancsó for their response.
During the interview, Jancsó admitted that discussing AI was “controversial,” yet he claimed it shouldn’t be.
“We ought to engage in a completely candid conversation regarding the tools that AI can offer us,” he stated. “There’s nothing in the movie that employs AI that hasn’t been previously accomplished.” It simply speeds up the process significantly. We employ AI to produce these minute details that we lacked the budget or time to capture.
