The critically acclaimed 2024 film The Brutalist has found itself at the center of an AI-related controversy, sparking debates about the use of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. Directed by Brady Corbet and starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, and Emma Laird, The Brutalist tells the poignant story of László Tóth, a Holocaust survivor who emigrates to America, rebuilds his career as an architect, and grapples with the challenges of his marriage. The film has been widely praised, earning a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes and generating significant awards buzz. However, the revelation that AI was used in its production has cast a shadow over its Oscar prospects.
How AI Was Used in The Brutalist
In a recent interview with RedShark News, the film’s editor, Dávid Jancsó, revealed that AI played a role in two key aspects of The Brutalist. The first use involved the AI tool Reespeecher, which was employed to enhance the Hungarian spoken in the film. As much of the dialogue is in Hungarian, Jancsó explained that the team wanted the language to sound as realistic as possible, even to native speakers. While actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones worked hard to learn Hungarian, Respeecher helped perfect their pronunciation and delivery.
The second use of AI came in the creation of architectural drawings that appear during the film’s conclusion. According to Jancsó, the AI-generated drawings were a practical solution to budget and time constraints. “It is controversial in the industry to talk about AI, but it shouldn’t be,” Jancsó said. “We use AI to create these tiny little details that we didn’t have the money or the time to shoot.”
Jancsó defended the use of AI as a tool to enhance efficiency, stating that similar techniques have been used in the industry for years. He stressed that both Brody and Jones excelled in learning Hungarian, but Respeecher provided an extra layer of precision to ensure authenticity.
Why AI in The Brutalist Is Controversial
The use of AI in filmmaking has been a divisive issue, particularly following the 2023 Hollywood strikes, where actors and writers protested the threat of AI to their jobs and creative contributions. Critics argue that AI use in films, even in small ways, undermines traditional artistry and could lead to job displacement for writers, actors, and other creatives.
In The Brutalist, the decision to use AI-generated architectural drawings at the film’s conclusion has sparked criticism. Many industry professionals argue that hiring real artists to create these drawings would have been a more ethical choice. Similar debates arose with the 2024 horror film Late Night with the Devil, which used AI-generated art in its background shots, fueling concerns that AI is replacing human creativity for cost-saving purposes.
While defenders of AI, like Jancsó, claim that it is merely a tool to make production more efficient, critics worry about the long-term implications for the industry. The backlash surrounding The Brutalist highlights broader concerns about how AI could reshape filmmaking and potentially harm the livelihoods of artists and technicians.
The Future of AI in Filmmaking
The controversy surrounding The Brutalist is part of a larger conversation about the role of AI in the entertainment industry. While tools like Respeecher and GenAI can streamline certain processes, their use raises ethical questions about the balance between technological advancement and preserving jobs for human artists.
As the industry continues to grapple with these issues, films like The Brutalist serve as a case study for both the potential and pitfalls of AI in cinema. Whether this controversy will ultimately hurt the film’s awards prospects remains to be seen, but it has undoubtedly sparked an important debate about the future of filmmaking.