'The Brutalist' AI Debate

Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, is making waves not only for its narrative but also for its innovative use of artificial intelligence. The film has ignited a larger debate about AI's growing role in Hollywood, from enhancing efficiency to reshaping creative workflows.

The Breakdown

In an insightful interview at RedShark News with editor Dávid Jancsó, AI tools were employed primarily for two purposes: enhancing the Hungarian dialogue of lead actors Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, and generating architectural imagery for reference images.

AI Powered Tools

• Dialogue and Accent Improvements: The filmmakers utilized the Respeecher AI voice tool to refine the Hungarian pronunciations of Brody and Jones, ensuring their performances sounded authentic to native speakers. AI was specifically used to tweak certain vowels and letters in the Hungarian dialogue, a process described as manual and focused on maintaining the integrity of the actors' original performances.

• Architectural Drawings: Judy Becker, the film's production designer, says architecture consultant Griffin Frazen used Midjourney “to create three Brutalist buildings quite quickly” to inspire a sequence featuring architectural designs attributed to Brody's character, László Tóth. However, Corbet later clarified with Deadline that the final images were hand-drawn by artists.

• Manual Oversight: Editor Jancsó emphasized that while AI sped up the process, it was not a replacement for human creativity; rather, it assisted in achieving specific technical details efficiently.

Brody’s Take on Ethics

Adrien Brody weighed in on the ethical implications of AI in creative projects, calling for “clear boundaries” to ensure human artistry remains at the forefront. His concerns resonate with growing unease in the industry about AI overshadowing traditional craftsmanship.

Industry-wide Trend

Corbet emphasized that these AI tools saved substantial time and resources, signaling a shift in Hollywood’s approach to storytelling and production.

The Brutalist is far from alone—productions across Hollywood are exploring AI to streamline processes like storyboarding, editing, and even actor replacement. For instance, ElevenLabs has partnered with estates of late actors such as Judy Garland and Laurence Olivier to recreate their voices for audiobooks. However, this trend faces criticism for potentially exploiting legacies without adequate consent.

Art vs. Efficiency

The debate also touches on AI’s ability to replicate voices and likenesses. Documentaries like Roadrunner controversially used AI to recreate Anthony Bourdain’s voice, sparking debates about authenticity and consent. While some argue these tools can preserve history, others see them as a step too far in altering creative integrity.

Our Take

The debate on AI use in The Brutalist highlights both a broad misunderstanding of the creative process of how films are made and a lack of better terminology for different AI tools. AI is a broad spectrum - from generating an entire video from a text prompt to more granular uses like helping clean up dialogue. The knee-jerk reaction to ‘AI’ is going to set back productive progress in being able to make films like The Brutalist at affordable budgets.