The Brutalist used AI in post-production. Will it cost them at the Oscars?

The Brutalist, a film that follows a fictional Jewish Hungarian architect as he attempts to rebuild his life in Pennsylvania, used AI to improve the Hungarian dialogue spoken by its lead actors, Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones. 

Brody, Jones and the film itself are all nominated in the biggest categories of the night at this year's Oscars. But as word of its use of AI in post-production has spread to audiences, in a time where tension around artificial intelligence is at an all-time high, many have begun to question whether The Brutalist should be rewarded.

Today on Commotion, film critics Rad Simonpillai and Kristy Puchko join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss what the public's reaction might say about our collective anxieties around the intersection of art and AI technology.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Rad, walk me through the arguments for and against the use of AI here specifically to get a more authentic-sounding accent. What do you make of its use here? 

Rad: We could appreciate the effort to get the Hungarian just right because, especially for Hungarian audiences, because as you would see with, say, Emilia Pérez, like, all of Mexico is upset about that movie when it comes to how it's representing their culture and their language…. I appreciate that they're going this extra mile to perfect the pronunciations. 

But at the same time, people are going to draw a hard line against AI because, of course, this fear that AI is going to replace artists and artistry. And, you know, we're just coming out of the Hollywood strikes and such, right? Especially with a movie like The Brutalist, they're going to draw that hard line because this is a movie that sold itself on how analog it is, you know? It's a movie where they really boasted—

Elamin: That's been the entirety of the Oscar campaign, like, how analog everything has been. It's shot in VistaVision, you know? Like these specifically-made choices that sort of harken back to the days of yore when it comes to film. So this runs a little bit counter to that.

Rad: When I interviewed Brady Corbet, he was talking about how you've got to see it in 70 millimeter because, if you don't see it in 70 millimeter, it's the difference between a painting and a lithograph. So he's basically drawing this hard line between hand-drawn artistry and a mechanical reproduction. So when you're inviting the most dogmatic cinephiles to uphold your artistry, they're going to feel betrayed when AI gets into the mix.

Elamin: I mean to that extent, Kristy, here's the reasonable point that I get caught up on: the idea that if it was so important for the character to have scenes where they speak Hungarian, and if analog is so important to you, why wouldn't you go the extra length of casting a Hungarian actor? Like, to what extent is that a part of your consideration as you watch this movie? Certainly you're not going to get the same funding from producers, but also there were enough scenes that included the narrating the letters going back and forth, that this clearly was important enough for the director to include.

Kristy: I mean, name a Hungarian actor?

Elamin: Hmm. Well, I mean, I'm sure certainly people in Hungary can. 

Kristy: Not to be glib, but it's just truly like, this movie cost $10 million. Which, honestly, considering — like, look at that movie. It's crazy it only cost $10 million. But they got that money in part because they have Felicity Jones. They have Adrian Brody. They have names that are so well respected and that put them in the Oscar conversation immediately, the producers are like, "OK, we'll take a risk on a movie that is going to be three-and-a-half hours and it's going to have an intermission. It's going to have scenes that are incredibly hard to watch." 

There are already so many risks being taken in this project that to be like, "And we're going to have it star someone who is Hungarian, like, flat-out," I just don't see that movie coming together. And I know that's the common excuse. But I'm just saying, that has to be considered in part of the arithmetic of these decisions. And I think what is more likely is that you get a version of this where no one speaks the foreign language at all. I think it's more likely to go that way than the other.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Ty Callender.