The Brutalist | Brady Corbet clarifies use of AI, but damage may be done

The Brutalist
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Director Brady Corbet has addressed the use of AI in the making of The Brutalist, a revelation thatā€™s hurt the filmā€™s Oscar chances.


Just yesterday we covered a story which claimed that The Brutalistā€™s Oscar momentum had been somewhat clipped by the revelation that the filmā€™s creators had used AI processes on various aspects of the production. Specifically, tweaking language performances and in the design of a building ā€“ a key narrative aspect of the story given that itā€™s about the artistic integrity of a Hungarian architect (played by Adrien Brody).

The filmā€™s editor Dávid Jancsó recently talked about the productionā€™s use of artificial intelligence processes, and according to several outlets, thereā€™s been quite the backlash in the filmmaking community. As such, the filmā€™s director, Brady Corbet has issued a statement via Deadline to clarify just how AI was used within the film:

ā€˜Adrien and Felicity’s performances are completely their own,ā€ he states. ā€œThey worked for months with dialect coach Tanera Marshall to perfect their accents. Innovative Respeecher technology was used in Hungarian language dialogue editing only, specifically to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy. No English language was changed. This was a manual process, done by our sound team and Respeecher in post-production. The aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity’s performances in another language, not to replace or alter them and done with the utmost respect for the craft.ā€™

Whether Corbetā€™s explanation will appease any unhappy Academy voters remains to be seen. This could be nothing more than a flash in the pan or play a significant role in slowing the filmā€™s awards momentum, which had otherwise been gathering pace. On one hand, given that The Brutalist is a 214 minute drama made for just $10m, itā€™s easy to understand why the filmā€™s producers may have turned to AI to trim a few costs. But also, had AI not existed, what would they have done? Given up on the film, or found a different way to achieve what they wanted?

The technology remains a sensitive subject, especially in certain fields such as acting ā€“ as shown by last 2023ā€™s strikes in which we saw the filmmaking community involved in a war of attrition with studios over the future use of AI.

As for the other reported use of the technology, it appears that generative AI was employed to design a building was meant as an ironic statement of sorts, with Corbet adding, ā€œour editorial team created pictures intentionally designed to look like poor digital renderings circa 1980.ā€

Given the tough few years and shrinking film industry that forms the backdrop to this yearā€™s awards race, however, Hollywood may not have much of a sense of humour about such things, hence Corbetā€™s decision to make a public statement.

The Brutalist is set for release in the UK this week.

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