Like Rome, no architectural wonder was ever built in a day... but the AI ​​controversy currently sweeping social media took just hours to threaten one of the Oscars' biggest favorites. The Brutalist easily stands as one of the best movies of 2024, as Chris Evangelista reviews for us from the film. Directed by Brady Corbett from a script by himself and Mona Fastvold, the 215-minute epic (don't worry, there's a short intermission in the film) tells the story of fictional Jewish architect Laszlo Toth as he emigrates from Hungary after. of the Holocaust in the United States. Hopelessly separated from his wife Erzebeth (Felicity Jones) and left almost completely alone in a strange and hostile land, he embarks on a grueling odyssey to make a living as one of the most brilliant architects of his time ... if you can only find someone (the opportunistic patron of Guy Pearce, Harrison Lee Van Buren, Sr.) who recognized his talents and plucked him from obscurity.

The Brutalist is nothing short of a lofty, essential work that speaks directly to today's events — but all that just makes this AI-related development all the more disappointing.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years, Hollywood's AI arms race has surprised no one, and Brutalist has become the latest title to fall under its target. Those of us who are vehemently opposed to fancy technology remain so because of its exploitation of artists and creatives, concerns about rampant plagiarism, environmental impact, and more. In this case, different social media users It drew attention to official studio press notes and an interview that revealed the 2024 film used generative AI for a few specific purposes: to display architectural blueprints and drawings during a key moment in the final act, and more broadly to improve the work of Brody with a Hungarian accent. . Here's why the revelation has many movie fans in an uproar.

Who doesn't love some good Oscar fashion drama? Well, speaking for themselves, fans of The Brutalist could probably do without this recent bombshell — especially since the entire film is about the painstaking, brittle, and all-consuming effort it takes for artists to create a legacy of their own. The idea that those behind this that the story in particular took such blatant creative shortcuts is almost too ironic for words.

However, there are a few question marks hanging over these reports that are worth digging into. First and foremost is the question of where exactly this information came from in the first place. Initial posts on X (formerly and, let's be real, still better known as Twitter) pointed to indie studio A24's press notes, which were paraphrased and reposted by News from RedShark. Given that the actual copy of this article contains several robotic-sounding and nonsensical phrases (like a sentence referring to The Brutalist as, and I quote, "one of the films of the year"), it didn't take long. for many users to suspect that the article itself was "written" using artificial intelligence. However, the outlet continues to claim that they interviewed Brutalist editor David Iancho about the decision to use AI throughout the production, which included a program known as The Answerer in order to "enhance" Brody's notoriously difficult pronunciation. Hungarian language. and accent.

It is also worth noting that, as The Ringer film writer and podcaster Joanna Robinson notedthe timing of this information certainly seems curious. Awards campaigns often have more to do with financial resources and politics than the actual quality of any given film. As mentioned in Robinson's post, disgraced industry mogul Harvey Weinstein was notorious for swaying Oscar season in favor of his own Miramax films (via the BBC). With the Academy Awards set to take place in March 2025, and The Brutalist tipped to lead the pack in several important categories (namely Best Picture and Best Actor), it's worth wondering which studios will have the biggest benefit from the last moment. controversies that may be hurting the front-runner's chances.

If there is a main "villain" in The Brutalist, it comes in the form of the immensely wealthy Harrison Lee Van Buren, Guy Pearce's senior, a man who the claims being a patron of the arts despite possessing very few creative instincts. When he hires Laszlo Toth to design and build a lavish community center that will stand as a monument to his legacy, his promises of financial support soon turn into outright manipulation and abuse. Again, if the metaphor at the heart of this AI controversy wasn't already obvious enough, the movie gods must have found the bluntest possible way to drive this point home.

The biggest concern with The Brutalist and its use of AI has to do with how it affects — and frankly changes — Adrien Brody's performance. The source article claims that both Brody and director Brady Corbett were "fully on board" with using Respeecher to tweak his voice work, meaning the all-important issue of performer consent was fully resolved by the creative team (as indicated by the provisions obtained from the SAG-AFTRA strike) from a legal point of view. However, this does not affect the ethics of using machine learning algorithms to change something as fundamental to film as dialogue and speech. If Brody were to win Best Actor (an honor he's already won among various critics groups, mind you), then we have to contend with how much of his performance is artificially inflated... not quite unlike athletes who use performance enhancing drugs. are making their way into the record books. Or the use of AI is something much more familiar, such as prosthetics and makeup used to lift Sebastian Stan's work in A Different Man, as a recent example?

While this particular example of AI hasn't replaced the work of any real artist, one has to wonder if the profession of accent trainer and similar positions could eventually end up in favor of a cheap and quick fix. Corbett, for his part, sought to allay such concerns in his statement on the situation (via Rock):

“Adrienne and Felicity's performances are completely their own. They worked with dialect coach Tanera Marshall for months to perfect their accents. Innovative speaker technology was used only in the editing of Hungarian language dialogues, especially to refine certain vowels and letters for accuracy. There was no English language altered. This was a manual process, done by our sound team and Respicher in post-production to ensure the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity's performances in another language, not to replace or change it, and to do it with the utmost respect for the craft.”

Regarding other uses of generative AI in the film, Corbett stated:

"Judy Becker and her team did not use artificial intelligence to create or render any of the buildings. All images were hand drawn by artists. To clarify, in the memorial video shown in the background of the footage, our editorial team created images deliberately designed to look like bad digital renders circa 1980."

Adding chaos to the mix is ​​the fact that, amazingly enough, The Brutalist is hardly the only film in the thick Oscar race to resort to artificial intelligence. Social media users (such as the critic Isaac Feldberg) were quick to point out that rival awards show Emilia Perez similarly used AI tools like Respeecher to boost star Carla Sofia Gascon's vocal performance and allow her to sing various songs "beyond her vocal range." If someone is going to point the finger at a major movie for its controversial reliance on artificial intelligence, then it's only fair to apply those same standards across the board. (For whatever it's worth and in the interest of full disclosure, I reviewed "Emilia Perez" for /Film rather negatively here.)

Of course, over the last few years we've seen more and more movies incorporating artificial intelligence into the production. Similar controversies have raised various headlines such as HBO series True Detective: Nightland and especially the horror film Late Night with the Devil. But increasingly, big-name directors ranging from David Fincher to James Cameron are admitting to using the technology to some extent on their own films. For better or worse, Artificial intelligence has already spread across industry and all signs point to this genie staying out of the bottle.

Does this suggest that we should sweep this "Brutalist" discourse under the rug? It is, as always, in the eye of the beholder. Supporters defend this as hardly a big enough deal or enough of a violation of artists' rights to merit as much controversy as it already has. Dissenters, meanwhile, seem to have enough evidence to indicate that this is another step taken on a slippery slope that could lead to greater consequences to come. However, the buzz around artificial intelligence isn't dying down anytime soon.

The Brutalist is currently playing in theaters.