Artificial intelligence remains a controversial topic in Hollywood. It was part of the disputes in the 2023 writers and actors strikes.
Following the news that the three-time Golden Globe-winning film, The Brutalistused artificial intelligence in post-production to soften its stars’ Hungarian accents Adrian Brody and Felicity Jonesas well as those of its cast, the film’s director, Brady Corbetissued a response.
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“Adrien and Felicity’s interpretations are completely their own. They worked for months with dialect teacher Tanera Marshall to perfect their accents. Innovative Respeecher technology was used only in Hungarian dialogue editingspecifically to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy. The English language was not changed. This was a manual process, carried out by our sound team and Respeecher in post-production. The goal was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity’s interpretations in another language.“, not replacing or altering them and it was done with the utmost respect for the craft.”


Additional generative AI is also used to create a series of architectural plans and finished buildings in the film’s final sequence, to which Corbet says: “Judy Becker and her team They did not use AI to create or render any of the buildings. All images were hand drawn by artists. To clarify, in the memorial video that appears in the background of a shot, our editorial team created images intentionally designed to look like poor digital renderings from around 1980.”
“The Brutalist is a film about human complexity, and every aspect of its creation was driven by human effort, creativity, and collaboration. “We are incredibly proud of our team and what they have accomplished here,” Corbet added.
Controversy over the use of Artificial Intelligence in Hollywood
The Brutalist is not the first film to use AI to “improve” some aspect of a film, for example, the acting of Freddie Mercurand on the part of Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsodyor even that of Angelina Jolie in Maria. That 2018 film earned him an Oscar for Best Actor, and Malek didn’t sing at his 100% in the film. According to Rolling Stone, the majority of Bohemian Rhapsody’s music was based on vocal tracks from Queen master tapes or new recordings by the Canadian Christian rock singer. Marc Martelwhich sounded like Mercury. Malek’s portrayal of Mercury is reportedly an amalgamation of some voices. Jolie’s performance in Maria is a mix of Oscar-winning actress and opera singer Maria Callas.
There are also reports that Netflix’s award-winning, Emilia Perezalso used Respeecher technology to improve the vocal range of Karla Sofia Gascón. The actress’s singing merged with that of the composer Emilia Pérez, Camille.
The Brutalist was filmed in Hungary. A24 snapped up the independently financed drama for less than $10 million after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The film was a surprise win at the Golden Globestaking home not only the award for Best Dramatic Feature Film, but also Best Actor in a Dramatic Feature Film for Brody and Best Director for Corbet. Corbet is also nominated for best director at the DGA Awards, while the film is nominated for the Daryl F. Zanuck Award for Best Producer at the PGAs.
The film follows Hungarian Jewish architect László Tóth (Brody), who immigrates to the US after surviving the Holocaust, as he seeks to rebuild his life, career and marriage. Once established in an unknown Pennsylvania and awaiting the arrival of his wife Erzsébet (Jones), the visionary is discovered by a wealthy industrialist (Guy Pearce). The extensive narrative, also co-written by Mona FastvoldCorbet’s wife and actress and filmmaker, spans 215 minutes and three decades of postwar America, with a 15-minute intermission.
Source: Ambito