Brazil

Rating:
Summary: How can you say no to a movie like this?
Review: The first thing I must notice is that the people who gave this movie 1 star in their review said nothing about the movie except "it was awful," and other comments designed to keep people from even looking at the movie, they hardly said anything about what bothered them about it. I must agree that it borrows some ideas from other, similar visions of the future, but it is also highly original.
This movie is very symbolic. In Sam's dreams, you see, in symbols, how his life is affected by the government he works for. In the office, you see the perfect working environment, where emplyees watch movies the second the boss leaves the room. However, the best part must be the end. I won't spoil anything for you, but what I will say is that it is quite bizzare, and there is more than one way the ending can be taken. This movie truly shows what happens when you give the government power over everything. Even ducts are bought (in their hundreds of colors) from the government.
I thought this movie was wonderful, especially for those who like movies that make you stay up in bed the night after they watch them, just thinking about it.

Rating:
Summary: When the Bandages Come Off
Review: Produced in 1985, "Brazil" is a black (and bleak) comedy about a future gone eerily awry. A future that, since this is 2002, is already coming true around us. Terry Gilliam's brilliant, colorfully retro vision of the future has little in common with the styling of Orwell's "1984," but deep inside the message is the nearly the same. The only real difference is that, unlike Orwell, Gilliam believes that the one fragile hope is the durability of the human imagination.

The opening scenes of the film reveal a manic world, where a bug (literally) in the works triggers the spectacular arrest of one Archibald Buttle, whose off-screen death under interrogation triggers a flurry of clerical paperwork. The world we see is fascinating, full of automation nearly gone berserk and the hapless human machinery that fills in the gaps. In this world, one may not only face hard interrogation, but be billed for that service as well. When Buttle, mistaken for terrorist Harry Tuttle, suffers a heart attack under questioning, Information Retrieval issues a refund. However, his wife's lack of a bank account triggers a series of complications. Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a daydreaming bureaucrat in the Ministry of Information, takes up the task of resolving the situation by hand delivering the check.

Harry faces many delightfully comic situations on his quest, as machinery refuses to function for him and the people in his world seem to treat him as something not quite socially acceptable. But all of this is brought up sharply when he finally confronts the widow. "My husband's dead, is he," she cries, "What have you done with his body?" Suddenly we are confronted with the truth. The surface is only a surface. As in "The Matrix," once you are past it something horrific looms. "Brazil" will continue to play this theme throughout. Walls conceal semi-organic, hostile masses of tubes and ductwork, room dividers separate upper-class diners from the gory reality of a terrorist bombing. Masses of plastic surgery cover the flaws of aging beauty.

It is no surprise that Harry falls victim to his own daydreams. Looking up through a hole in Mrs. Buttle's ceiling Lowry spies the face of the woman of his dreams, Jill the truck driver, played wonderfully by Kim Geist. In his desperate attempts to track her down, Sam transfers into the dark world of Information Retrieval. There, aided my his friend Jack Lint (Michael Palin), he finds out what he needs, but inadvertently sets in motion a series of events that can only be describes as a burlesque apocalypse. Layer after layer of his society's illusions collapse around him and Jill with humorous, but nightmarish precision.

Terry Gilliam has proven himself a genius at using dark humor and sarcasm to engage in a plot that would be horribly difficult otherwise. As in "The Fisher King," we laugh and snicker right up until we confront the truth. "Brazil" is a brilliant example of this. Full of the imaginative imagery of a retro-future world and great acting by a cast that includes the likes of Robert De Niro and Katherine Helmond it is an experience that stuns the sensibilities while bringing home its message. In his notes, Gilliam calls this a light-hearted nightmare. One will haunt you for some time to come.

Rating:
Summary: Originality is a sister of mediocrity...
Review: The movie (I can't call it a film - it isn't) is a mixture of story stolen from "1984", tasteless scenes (flying Jonathan Pryce, brrr), and exersizes in showing off (look, how original I am) that in its director's narcissism can only be compared to recent outrageously mediocre Moulin Rouge. What a whiner of director... For G-d sake, the guy is actually praising himself on how he deceived the film studios that provided financing for his movie!! For hardcore Gilliam fans only...

Rating:
Summary: A film for the smarter audience.
Review: This DVD set truly shows how a movie should be presented. The controversy surrounding the making of the film is as exciting as the movie itself and only further communicates Gilliam's message. The three DVD boxed set equips one with not only the Wide screen edition, and a DVD filled with "goodies" but also the "Love Conquers all Version" which shows the film hacked to bits in order to make it more commercial. "Something for an Executive".

Brazil is truly Gilliam's masterpiece and not one to be ignored by those seeking a movie for the intelligent. Gilliam refuses to treat his audience like Hollywood executives often do. Instead he makes movies that require thought which is something the general public has not often been able to handle well (Memento, Mulholland Drive, etc) He is not afraid to make a truly wonderful movie that the general public may not understand or appreciate for those few that will walk away satisfied. This film makes me yearn for more films geared toward the thinking person and not the average popcorn gobbler.

The film is visually stimulating as is every Gilliam film. From Sam's automated kitchen sequence (which seems to have been stolen by Back to the Future) to the "face lifts" wonderfully performed by 2001's Oscar winner Jim Broadbent to the emotionally stirring conclusion of the film reminiscent of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge", Brazil is a movie that refuses to compromise and will leave you as frustrated with a desk job as Sam Lowry.

When Gilliam test screened the film for audiences the viewers that truly understood the film wrote on the survey cards "NO MORE PAPERWORK!" Those cards were unfortunately discounted but the message was clear that Gilliam had made a film unlike any other.

The players in the movie could almost be called Gilliam's own troop of players as they seems to reappear in one or all of Gilliam's "trilogy" (Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen). Ian Holm, Jim Broadbent, Simon Jones, Charles McKeown (wonderful blind man work in Life of Brian), Katherine Helmond, Michael Palin, and I'm sure there are many others. All of these people are such wonderful actors that they make their jobs mean more than how much money one is getting for a role. They make movies for the love of movies and Directors like Terry Gilliam.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to be entertained and appreciate a brave piece of work.

Rating:
Summary: My Lord
Review: This is another load of unwatchable excrement by the only member of the Monty Python troupe who had absolutley no talent...and still doesn't (Fear and Loathing anyone?).

Rating:
Summary: Ordem E Progresso Destrua: Gilliam's Nightmarish "Brazil"
Review: 'Brazil entertains the heart the softly stands beneath an amber moon. Brazil is the kiss of two loves, clung together. And when love is miles away, with a million things to say, recalling the thrills shared under twilit skies, Brazil is the place it returns to.'

With any luck, the optimism of these thoughts will get you through the coming nights. For if Terry Gilliam's movie "Brazil" is at all prophetic, your days will ultimately destroy you.

Owing obvious influence to George Orwell's "1984", "Brazil" is set in a dystopian society where subtle propaganda aims to control your mind ("Don't suspect a friend, report him" and "Loose Talk Is Noose Talk" being my favourite examples of the ever-present signage that marks the landscape), government workers have the ability to destroy your life with the touch of a button or the pressing of a rubber stamp, and a mighty brouhaha between the oppressors and the oppressed -- characterized by ever more frequent terrorist bombings -- is brewing. It's a world where an innocuous act, such as a bug falling into a teletype machine, can cost a man his life. Which is exactly what happens.

Despite what appears to be a violent regression in the advancement of technology, characterized by manual typewriters attached to monochromatic monitors that serve as personal computers, "Brazil" is probably the most realistic dystopian vision I can think of. It lays out a possible future path that will not surprise anyone if it comes true. If it hasn't already. It's a hermetically sealed society where personal information is our most precious and destructive commodity, plastic surgeons promise happiness and deliver startling (in every sense of the word) results, and bureaucracy has run amok to the nth degree.

This last point gives the film some of its most uncomfortable laughs. One early scene has a black-coated bureaucrat, having just legally abducted a woman's husband, offering her a "receipt for your husband", and then cheerily adding, "and this is my receipt for your receipt." At one point Sam Lowry, our most unlikely protagonist who's on his toes as ever, actually thwarts a malicious attempt to sabotage his air-conditioning... by demanding the appropriate form. The boys from Central Servicing, obviously taught well, have no choice but to back off.

Terry Gilliam, director of such disturbing fare as "The Fisher King", "Time Bandits", and "Twelve Monkeys", once again plies the trades he learned during his time in Monty Python: the use of humour to point out society's ills (despite the bleak message, "Brazil" is nothing if not a mercilessly funny film), and a unique eye for sharp and evocative visuals. The landscape he's created appears to be dominated by a duct motif. The curious little pipes muss up the corner of every room, from floor to ceiling, creating a benign yet oppressive presence. On the one hand, information and service is always at your fingertips; on the other hand, you're always at *their* fingertips. Shudder.

The film opens with a bird's-eye-view trip through some clouds. The song "Brazil", after which the film is intriguingly named (and whose lyrics I liberally pilfered to start my review), soars over the soundtrack. It's the first appearance for a theme that's omnipresent throughout the film (It turns up in various guises; at one point Sam even whimsically whistles it). It's like Big Brother, only this time instead of him watching you, you're listening to it. In lieu of opening credits we instead get a couple of quick title cards marking time and location. They reminded me of the similar opening moments of Hitchcock's "Psycho", enamored with specificity ("8:49am"), but with the added attraction of being paradoxically unspecific ("Somewhere in the 20th century"). What follows is a film of harrowing emotion and terrifying ideas.

Jonathan Pryce, as Sam Lowry, is a perfect guide for the audience to follow through this strange world. He begins the film as a cool customer; watch him ably assist his nervous manager, Mr. Kurtzmann (a delicious Ian Holm), in solving small crisis after small crisis with but a few taps at the computer terminal. He's also a dreamer. His multiple forays into a fantasy world where he's a winged warrior battling 20-foot tall samurais allows the film to flesh out the subtext. Sam is an idealist, ill suited to a world hell bent on destroying his dreams. So as he becomes entangled in the machinations of the plot, Pryce gets more and more frantic. In what's essentially a button-down bureaucrat of a role, Pryce shows that he's wildly limber. His physical comedy, which is helped out by his buggy eyeballs and lanky limbs, amounts for much of the comedy in the role.

Pryce is surrounded by a veritable who's who of British character actors. Besides the aforementioned Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, and Jim Broadbent all turn up in small but effective roles. Gilliam even allows a couple of Americans to join in on the fun. Katherine Helmond, as Sam's surgery obsessed mother, and Robert DeNiro, as a rogue handyman, appear to be having heaps of fun with their characters. Kim Greist, as Jill, the fantasy object of Sam's desire, is less successful. She's supposed to be the worthy Julia to Sam's Winston Smith, but Greist is stiff, unappealing, and unattractive.

The film's plot, often confusing, is most likely just a clothesline off of which Gilliam and Co. can hang big ideas. And they do, with flair and humour intact. Much credit should be given to screenwriters Gilliam, Charles McKeown, who also plays Sam's office mate Harvey Lime, and Tony award winning playwright Tom Stoppard (yay Tom!).

"Brazil" is just the latest in a long line of films I've seen recently that I can classify as 'revisionist'. Not that the film itself makes new claims on old history. It's more a case of me seeing a film for a second time, a film I detested after the first pass, with new eyes. And loving it dearly.

Rating:
Summary: For Sensitive Artists at Coffee Shops Everywhere
Review: Bureacracy is bad. We are all mere cogs in the machine. Yes, these are concepts too advanced and intellectual for the average American cretin. But the Brazilophiles understand that after viewing this film 700 or 800 times, Gillian's cartoonish visuals and hackneyed plot congeal into a brilliant miasma that only the elite can totally comprehend.
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SENSITIVE ARTIST
I am a sensitive artist. Nobody understands me because I am so deep. In my work, I make allusions to books that nobody else has read, music that nobody else has heard; and art that nobody else has seen. I can't help it because I am so much more intelligent and well-rounded than everyone who surrounds me.

I stopped watching tv when I was six months old because it was so boring and stupid, and started reading books and going to recitals and art galleries. I don't go to recitals any more, because my hearing is too sensitive, and I don't go to art galleries any more because there are people there and I can't deal with people because they don't understand me.

I stay at home, reading books that are beneath me and working on my work, which no one understands.

I am sensitive.

(from King Missle)

Rating:
Summary: Too Bad...
Review: It seemed like this film was going to be pretty good, and though there are some undeniably briliant and funny moments (resteraunt scene, constant forms), it simply did not need to be it's own film. Perhaps it would work better as an SNL sketch? It also seems to be an obvious rip-off of George Orwell's book "1984", exept "1984" actually delivers. Pretty much what I'm trying to say is that just getting a vague summary is much more appropriate than sitting through this overdone waste of time.

Rating:
Summary: Brazil is botha great movie and a fabulous dvd
Review: This is a fabulous film that has not just a great story and a great feel to the world presented here but every single thing. To try to explain Brazil without confusing people or ruining great scenes in the movie is impossible so i'll just review the special features for all the Brazil fans who still are wondering should I pay that much for a dvd? And the answer is yes with Gilliam's commentary to the battle of brazil and the "comercial" version universal wanted for its american release (which both show how dumb studio execs are and how they couldn't find the real story behind Brazil which is about our own society and not some farce rommance film set in the future) will make you laugh, cry (maybe) and most of all hating the studio system. This is a must for any Terry Gilliam/Brazil Fan (or buff or obbsesed fan) to buy and that is what I say Mr. Acid docter.

Rating:
Summary: All about Escaping from Reality
Review: Sam is a character that i can really relate to. He is obsessed with finding his dream. The truck driving woman is just the down to earth person to take this dreamer back to reality however. How funny that the embodiment of a dream can lead back to reality.

The cameo appearance by Robert Deniro is quite amusing. Not to mention the scene of Sam's mother having her face lift. It is always good to have a good laugh. If only this woman would stop meddling in his life, Sam believes that, then, things would get better. He can't seem to forgo his promotion to information retrieval however so things will continue on as they are. And then comes his dream woman as he figures out the common sense solution to his bosses bureaucratic problem. But before he meets this truck driving lady. He has to bring a check to a horribly distraught woman and ask for her signature. She is the man's next of kin. Well Tuttle or Buttle something like that is his name. The typewriter seemed to have been unsure and had a bug. Of course signing on the dotted line as the woman takes the check is always a dramatic event and central to the theme of the movie. This poor widow only wants to know what has happened to the body of her husband.

Other then that, I have to level with you. This film left me totally baffled despite multiple viewing. BUT, that is what i liked so much about it. Other then the few aforementioned scenes I never knew what i was looking at when i was watching the film. BUT, that made me feel like i was walking through an art gallery. And that was only enforced by the previous reviewers comment of the film being Avant Garde.

As in any gallery i ask myself, 'What work will be timeless?' I'd like to think that this film will be. It was off to a good start when they opened up with 'Somewhere in the 20th Century'. However i think they might have said 'Somewhere in Modern times'. After all, hey!, this movie was from the 80s in England and it did not seem too outdated to me even now in the 21st Century. Surely we can all relate to that continuous mention of the dreaded 't' word that continued to crop up in the film. In this case however good and bad were not so clearly delineated. The rogue air conditioning repairman seemed like a bad guy but he sure was able to help things out. And once again when our main character is rescued from a terrible situation of near torture the bad guys seem quite useful.

All in all the film is quite entertaining and I'm glad i saw it in the 80's and once again now on the new dvd format. The 80s did seem like a much gentler time however, so maybe the film is better off watched in this, 21st Century. Kudos and contiued Kudos to Gilliam and i may try to see more of this persons' films.