'The Brutalist' Director Speaks Out To Defend Film's Use Of AI After Igniting Backlash

Another day, another industry grappling with the use of AI.

Director Brady Corbet had to clarify and defend his film's artistic choices to use AI in his low-budget, high-profile movie about a Hungarian architect in post-war America.

The movie, starring Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, features some Hungarian dialogue that Corbet said was smoothed over in post-production with Respeecher to help with some notably difficult Hungarian pronunciation.

The actors did work extensively with a dialect coach, he said, and the AI program was used just to refine those performances.

“...specifically to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy… 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.”

In addition to clarifying exactly when and where the AI program was used, Corbet defended his choices based on budget and also that, well, everyone else is doing it too. He said that it's just another evolution in movie making and wants a larger discussion about its (to him, inevitable) use.

He said:

“We should be having a very open discussion about what tools AI can provide us with. There’s nothing in the film using AI that hasn’t been done before. It just makes the process a lot faster.”

Many people were less than impressed with his choices.

Others pointed out that Blender, a program often employed by SFX artists, could have done much the same thing while actually employing a person.

Folks were curious about how this revelation will affect the film's chances at the Oscars.

Some agreed with Corbet.

No matter where you come down in this debate, it sure will be a gnarly, ongoing mess.

The Brutalist is in wide release in cinemas.