‘The Brutalist’ Editor Admits Filmmakers Used AI to Tweak Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ Hungarian Dialogue

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Critics are raising concerns about Brady Corbet’s potential award-winning movie, The Brutalist, following statements made by its editor during a recent interview. It appears that artificial intelligence was employed to bolster the acting abilities of the film’s main actors, Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.

During an interview with video technology publication Red Shark News, editor Dávid Jancsó revealed that the filmmakers employed AI technologies developed by Ukrainian expert Respeecher to refine the Hungarian dialogues of Brody and Jones in the movie, aiming for a more genuine sound.

Jancsó, a native Hungarian speaker, notes that the language is challenging for many to pronounce correctly, especially those who come from English or Germanic backgrounds as some of its sounds may seem unfamiliar and difficult to master.

The performances of Brody and Jones in the movie have received high praise from critics, as they portray Hungarian refugees who migrate to the United States following World War II. Notably, Brody’s leading role earned him a Golden Globe award for best actor in a drama, making him a strong contender for this year’s Oscars.

A significant portion of the movie’s dialogue is spoken in Hungarian, and director Jancsó emphasized the need for authenticity in this language. He commends Brody and Jones’ performances but admits minor adjustments were necessary to heighten certain Hungarian phonetic nuances. Initially, the production team attempted to re-record these sections during post-production.

Initially, we attempted to re-record the more challenging parts using the original actors. However, when we tried to have other actors do it entirely, it didn’t pan out. Consequently, we began exploring alternative methods to improve those sections,” he explains.

On a shoestring budget, barely scraping $10 million for the entire production of “The Brutalist”, we ingeniously leveraged technology from the innovative Ukrainian AI startup, Respeecher. As a passionate fan involved in this project, I can say that Brady and Jones lent their own voices to the AI, while Jancsó utilized his native Hungarian speech as a reference model for the system.

According to Jancsó, they were meticulous about preserving the performances, essentially swapping out some letters. He likens the procedure to editing dialogues rather than engaging in creative work. “You can perform this task in ProTools independently,” he adds, “but given the enormous amount of dialogue in Hungarian, we needed to accelerate the process to avoid being stuck in post-production for a prolonged period.

Jancsó reveals that Generative AI was employed in creating a film sequence towards its end, serving as an inspiration for a set of architectural sketches and completed structures attributed to the character of László Tóth, the fictional architect, in the story. However, it’s important to note that the actual designs were manually drawn by hand.

In an industry debate, Jancsó asserts to Red Shark that discussions surrounding AI should not be contentious. Instead, he advocates for a transparent dialogue about the tools AI offers. He points out that while AI is utilized in his film, it’s not something new; it simply expedites the process. Specifically, AI is employed to add intricate details that, due to financial or time constraints, couldn’t be captured through traditional shooting methods.

However, the announcement has ignited a wave of criticism online, as numerous individuals have expressed their disapproval towards the application of AI in the movie and advocated for its exclusion from contention for awards.

As a fan, I find myself expressing concerns about the “The Brutalist” AI situation. It seems to me that if Adrien Brody’s accent was manipulated using AI, it opens up a potentially dangerous path towards awarding performances that have been artificially enhanced. In my opinion, modifying a performance in such a significant way with AI should lead to disqualification from these prestigious award shows.

Another person commented, ‘I watched The Brutalist on 35mm and was completely surprised by its stunning beauty.’ It’s disappointing to find out that AI wasn’t just used to improve Adrien Drody’s accent, but also to design the buildings in the movie.

Others believed it wouldn’t be right to evaluate the actors’ performances solely based on a few variations of vowel sounds.

One viewer commented on X that while Brody’s accent may have lessened some of the intricate aspects, it didn’t significantly affect the impact of his performance. What touched them instead was not the accent but rather how effectively he expressed emotions.

For several years, the innovative Ukrainian firm Respeecher has been leading advancements in artificial intelligence related to audio. Notably, they recently made news —and stirred some debate— by striking a deal with Lucasfilm to utilize the legendary voice of the late James Earl Jones for future Darth Vader endeavors. Jones himself had given permission for his voice recordings to be used in this way. Additionally, Respeecher collaborated with Lucasfilm to develop a youthful version of Mark Hamill’s voice for a Luke Skywalker guest appearance in the last episode of The Mandalorian‘s second season.

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2025-01-20 18:55