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Brazil 
Actors : Jim Broadbent, Ray Cooper (II), Robert De Niro, John Flanagan, Kim Greist
Studio : Universal Studios
by Universal Studios
Release Date : 1998-03-31
Publisher : Universal Studios
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9780783225906
UPC : 025192016820
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 356 reviews)
List Price : $14.98
Our Price : $7.93
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Americancivilwar.com |
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If Franz Kafka had been an animator and film director--oh, and a member of Monty Python's Flying Circus--this is the sort of outrageously dystopian satire one could easily imagine him making. However, Brazil was made by Terry Gilliam, who is all of the above except, of course, Franz Kafka. Be that as it may, Gilliam sure captures the paranoid-subversive spirit of Kafka's The Trial (along with his own Python animation) in this bureaucratic nightmare-comedy about a meek governmental clerk named Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) whose life is destroyed by a simple bug. Not a software bug, a real bug (no doubt related to Kafka's famous Metamorphosis insect) that gets smooshed in a printer and causes a typographical error unjustly branding poor Sam as a miscreant. The movie presents such an unrelentingly imaginative and savage vision of 20th-century bureaucracy that it almost became a victim of small-minded studio management itself--until Gilliam surreptitiously screened his cut for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, who named it the best movie of 1985 and virtually embarrassed Universal into releasing it. This DVD version of Brazil is the special director's cut that first appeared in Criterion's comprehensive (and expensive) six-disc laser package in 1996. Although the DVD (at a fraction of the price) doesn't include that set's many extras, it's still a bargain. --Jim Emerson |
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Love the film... |
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I really love this movie, but spend the cash and get one of the two Criterion Collection releases. That is really the only way to watch this film. |
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Prescient |
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The overall impact of this brilliant, and, I believe, prescient film is that of a visual and emotional assault. The socio-political reality of the world since Gilliam created Brazil shows he isn't just some paranoid, sci-fi flake. We are moving in the direction he envisioned. Makes me feel like someone watching two trains about to collide--you can see the tragedy in motion ages before it happens, but you can't stop it anyway. The tacked-on, Hollywood ending doesn't vitiate the film as Gilliam feared. |
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An acquired taste |
Brazil is definitely out there. The concept itself is very impressive and very well done. While the execution of the movie was flawless it still left me unsatisfied. I blame that just on my preferences and not on any slight on the film itself. Still it's worth noting that in my opinion Brazil isn't all that it was made out to be.
I think my biggest gripe is that this is a social-political satire and that just isn't enough to entertain me. Though the different scenes all make sense, when you think about it when they come at you it sometimes feels like a mess. I am assuming that is part of the charm in Brazil. I just couldn't get into it. It wasn't bad. It just didn't make a strong impression on me.
In spite of the shortcomings this is a very well done movie. The sci-fi style isn't quite cyberpunk. It seems more like "Golden Age of Wireless"-punk. I think director Terry Gilliam calls it Retro-futurism. Whatever it is, it's cool. Personal phones are mini-switchboards, computers have tiny screen with giant magnifying glasses and typewriter type keys, and God help you if you ever need to have your air conditioning checked. The characters are all quirky and cool at the same time, especially Harry Tuttle. There is a recurring dream that pops in now and then that looks beautiful. I think the dream sequences are the coolest parts of the movie.
Brazil might be one of those acquired tastes movies. If you are really into dark comedies or stinging satire then this might be right up your alley. For the average viewer Brazil might be over the top or hard to follow. If you are interested in unique retro-future tech then it's worth a look. I won't say every sci-fi fan should watch Brazil, but it wouldn't hurt.
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A Classic! |
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If you are not a Tery Gilliam fan then you might not be able to appreciate this masterpiece. In the vein of 1984, the future is a world based on control and corruption, just Terry Gilliam style. |
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Beware, this is a "nerd" classic, not a cultural classic |
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I'm all for creative films, which I thought this was supposed to be. It isn't. It's such a simplistic and random retelling of "1984" it makes even videogames like Half Life 2 look sophisticated by comparison, and that's not saying much. I realize now when people call a film classic you have to ask if they mean a "nerd" classic like The Matrix, or Brazil, or something that's of genuine cultural value. This is definitely a nerd classic, and not the latter. Be warned, unless you have an uncommon love of mechanical things and little emotional resonance within you, this movie is just long, boring, and cheesy as hell. |
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