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Summary: Brief thoughts about Brazil
Review: A very funny and insightful movie. In terms of the DVD set, it is *the* standard.
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Summary: Truly a masterpiece
Review: I had never seen this film before last fall, but heard many good things about it. occasionally i enjoy avant garde films and this is a true masterpiece. this is terry gilliam's second best film, behind the classic comedy Monty python and the holy grail. This film has a wonderful "1984" feel to it, describing a world controlled by some totalitarian regime with terrorists as always the enemy. the dreamy sequence at the end was wonderful. i love the fact that he tries as hard as he can to get away, but in the end, does he?
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Summary: WOW!
Review: I have probably seen this movie some forty-seven times or so. It is quite possibly the best movie I have ever seen. Don't miss it!
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Summary: Funny, yet Depressing
Review: *Not the Criterion Collection version*
Whenever one takes a look into the future of our society, it's never one of peaches and cream, but always a dystopia, filled with dark shadows, oppressive government, and gargantuan buildings. Brazil is no exception. Sure, many of the visuals created by Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam are striking and quite creative. The story produces many laughs yet never quite hits its mark. Its not that its a bad movie, but one much too busy and dark for its own good. The plot twists and turns until its last depressing slump, complete with the main character humming that oh so famous song.
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Summary: "I want to talk to you about ducts"
Review: Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL is one of the most visually unique films of the past twenty-five years. It is a tale of corporate bureaucracy told within a German Expressionistic backdrop filled with stunning blacks and grays that extend up, blocking the sky. Occasionally, the film enters a dream state, which is as dark and ominous as reality with its vagrants in distorted masks and superpower samurai warrior. BRAZIL is not simply a visual feast, its storyline is carried through with corporate game play where the little people always lose... and in many case their lives. Yes, this is a dysfunctional society where the rules are totally defining. But, those rules are also unavailable without the proper paperwork. Jonathan Pryce (GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS) is perfect as the idealistic clerk turned freedom fighter. He carries the film with ease. Other notables in the cast include Katherine Helmond, Jim Broadbent, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins as a "Central Services" employee with a tremendous bill. Briefly gracing the film is Robert DeNiro as a rebellious Air Conditioner repairman whose handiwork brings on much of the trouble. But, eventually even he is done in by paperwork. Themeatically, beauracracy is what destroys the society. It was tough bringing this film to the screen as studios made demands that made director Gilliam balk. But, when his original vision played to phenomenal critical reception, the studio bigwigs were forced to pass on their own vision. Now, the CRITERION COLLECTION 3 DVD set offers both to the viewer along with commentary from the creator and a Utopia of bonus materials. This DVD is a must for fans of the film, but the film is not for everyone. Many viewers find the work either too long or uneventful and confusing- or a mix of the three. For those viewers, the studio's "Love Conquers All" version, which runs a good 45 minutes shorter, might be just the medicine they need. Which is better? That's not possible to answer because the two are truly different films with diverse themes. Its amazing what a few cuts can do. BRAZIL is a film that will never grow beyond its big cult following. Even with the studio offering to fix the film, but as they say "These things don't fix themselves."
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Summary: dystopia bound
Review: Dystopia in both popular culture and literature tend to lampoon left of center utopian dreams. Rarely, e.g. "Handmaiden's Tale" or "Fahrenheit 451" (read the books, skip the movies), does the "Right" take it in the jaw... Why is this? Perhaps because the Left's utopian vision is more inclusive, more intellectualized, (and therefore more seductive) then one from the Right? No, I think, though it is tempting, the real reason I think lies in the fact (e.g.) that groups like the Nazis' basically went out and did what they said they would, like enslave everybody not like them, and horribly murder minority communities, while, at the height of The Great Purge, Stalin's Soviet Union pushed through a National Anthem which said innocently "I don't know anywhere where anyone could breath so freely....". It is this juxaposition that struck authors Orwell ("1984") and Zaymatin ("We") so fiercely. Consider the lush theme song in "Brazil" versus the grimy world one encounters. The Pryce Character's Fantasy versus his Reality. It is the difference between what is touted to what is served that creates Irony, as in Spiro's restaurant. The lines that give it away are among the first, where Mrs. Buttle reads the last few lines of Charles Dickens "Christmas Carol" verbatim: "He was better than his word. He Did It All....", just before the huge mindless state machine (set up with the intention to do exactly what the Reformed Scrooge, the formerly despicable moneylender, does) destroys their family. The bloody-minded former Imperial Power, reformed like Scrooge by "Old Labour", is unleasing on its own people. The Same "Civilizing Mission", the same vicious results. Gilliam is saying: "You want Compassion? You want no Homelessness? Full employment? Birth to Grave benefits? Careful what you wish!" But Gilliam has to know he is joshing us. As doctors become almost a luxury for American poor, and the distance between the life of rich and poor in the U.S. becomes shockingly extreme, the "Old British Labour Programme" Gilliam attacks (with its hulking bureaucracy) looks less and less laughable. The Republicans are doing just what they said they would do, and generally, sans massacre and resorting only to wage slavery... Gilliam's "The Fisher King" is perhaps more apt than his "Brazil". But like other intellectual jabs from the Right, such as "Lord of the Flies", these are attacks that need to be met in force, not dismissed. Follow this film with Gilliam's own "Fisher King" as a chaser, or else "Gattaca", primarily for a corporate future as bad as Brazil's Welfare State.
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Summary: Criterion Collection Features Review
Review: This review focuses on the extras provided on the Criterion Collection DVD. This three disc special edition is filled with extras which are top drawer and add insight into the film Brazil. This is a must have and it begins on disc one, the uncut 142 minute version of Brazil, which shows Gilliam's true vision. It features an audio commentary track with Gilliam, which is excellent. You can tell Gilliam cared enough to prepare himself for it, not like some commentary tracks where the director goes, "oh yeah, this part was fun" about once every two minutes. Gilliam adds a new level of insight I had not previously had on his film. The second disc is full of goodies. One interesting part features the film's special effects, including some raw footage. The storyboards were amazing, they show his visions of the dream sequences, not all of which, made it into the final film. Musical score, costume design, production design, textual supplements, production & publicity still photo galleries, the film's theatrical trailer and screenwriting for the film are also featured. "What Is Brazil?", a 1/2 hour short that shows a behind the scenes look at Brazil. Also included is "The Battle Of Brazil: A Video History," which features the controversy which loomed over the film around Brazil. From newspaper articles to phone interviews, this piece tells the true tale behind Gilliam's battle to control Brazil and keep his vision intact. The third and last disc contains a very different version of Brazil, "The Love Conquers All" edition which reflects little of Gilliam's vision, but made the Universal fat cats happy. This cut runs 94 minutes in length and doesn't have most of the darker edge, and adds a new opening and a new finale which is more satisfying to Hollywood bigwigs. When you watch it and compare it to Gilliam's vision, it shows all the more why it was so important to Gilliam to have his vision remain intact. Just amazing to have this information available for reference. Do not miss out on this Criterion set!
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Summary: If you liked this movie, you must have this DVD
Review: I remember watching this movie over a dozen times when it first came out (I was still in high school then). I thought that this was a brilliant movie, refreshingly unHollywood. I loved the dream sequences, that in the beginning are obvious, but near the end, blend seemlessly into reality. Having said all that, I was blown away by this collection of 3 dvds. The documentaries were completely fascinating, learning how this movie almost didn't get released, and all the things that Terry Gilliam had to do to get it made. The commentaries are some of the best that I have heard (some commentaries on dvds, face it... So as i said above, if you liked the move, buy this DVD
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Summary: Yeeeehawwww!
Review: Okay, first, I've only given this set four stars. Why? Because Brazil is a very good film, and that is worth four stars. It's NOT the best film ever, and NOT even Gilliam's best film. But it is very good. This set features two seperate edits of the film. The second "Love Conquers All" edit is a revelation in how much editing can affect the storyline and perceptions of character in a movie, and the commentary that accompanies it is very well written and considered. The third disc contains a documentary on the battle over the film that is also well done. The transfers of the film are well done, the sound is presented well, the whole affair is technically excellent. But, if you have never ever seen this film, you should not run out and buy this set. Rent it on video first, and see what you think. If you like it, then you will love this set. If not, you will have saved some money that you can spend on whatever else your heart wishes.
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Summary: Cool, but degenerates fast
Review: The cinematography of this film is supurb. The settings are excellent, the score is divine, the actors impressive...so why is this movie nothing more than a sloppy mess? (And, yes, I've seen all the available versions.) This ain't a bad movie, folks. It actually has imagination--something Hollywood lacks in spades. The writing is sharp. The nuances are subtle. But Gilliam mashes it all together in an unrecognizable film that it's easy to blink and think you've missed something pivotal. The first two-thirds of the movie is great, and much higher than most standards. The last third of the movie is Gilliam's mind run amock--a patchwork of scene after scene of disturbing images, sledge-hammer metaphors, and "I've wanted to film something like this since I thought it up when I was six!" moments that have you scratching your head. Those that "get" this film are saying that just to make you feel inadequate. There's nothing to "get" here except for the occasional social statements that are neither fresh nor inventive. Bottom line? This is a movie that had a great idea with a director that can implement it well, but someone let him have way too much free reign with it. It's too long, too muddled, and too (hey!) boring to be a masterpiece. THe consolation, of course, is that it could have been one.
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