Brazil [M]

Somewhere in the twentieth century lives a mid-level bureaucrat working hard to stamp out terrorism and daydreaming of a beautiful, mysterious woman in his free time. When he discovers that the woman of his dreams does exist, he embarks on a romantic venture, unwittingly becoming entangled in an underground terrorist operation and, finally, becoming a prisoner of his own romantic fantasies. 

This has to be one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen in my life. With its black comedy, original story, and amazing performances, Brazil was one of the best mind trips I’ve been on and it’s one that I think everyone should go on at least once. 

Somewhere in the twentieth century lives a mid-level bureaucrat working hard to stamp out terrorism and daydreaming of a beautiful, mysterious woman in his down time. When he discovers that the woman of his dreams does in fact exist, he embarks upon a thrilling romantic venture, unwittingly becoming entangled in an underground terrorist operation and finally, becoming a prisoner of his own romantic fantasies. 

Set in a futuristic yet plausible world where society is dominated by paranoia, obsession with plastic surgery, and totalitarianism, the film starts off with a bang…literally. The first scene shows a shop being blown up, instantly grabbing the audience by the throat and holding their attention for the remainder of the film. A clever and very effective plot device. 

The central humour of the film is very dark and not dissimilar to the comedy of the Coen brothers in that all these terrible things happen and are made to happen by a simple mistake or misunderstanding. In the case of Brazil, a squashed bug falls into a typewriter that is issuing arrest warrants for a Mr. Tuttle and the insect causes a typo resulting in the arrest of a Mr. Buttle. It’s this tiny typo that brings about the terrible dramas that are quick to follow. It’s all very sick, but at the same time rather funny. I suppose you need to have the warped sense of humour that I have to understand the brilliance of it all. 

Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, the hero, and his performance was absolutely awesome. I usually don’t use the word “awesome” to describe performances because the actual meaning of the word has been lost over the years, but when I use it here, I use it in the true and original sense of the word. The performance that Jonathan delivered literally made my jaw drop and I was completely captivated as his character went from innocent worker to crazed romantic lunatic. Watching him was like watching the most placid and gentle cat, catch and throttle a bird right out of the sky. He was completely harmless to begin with, but as his adventure becomes more and more bizarre, he suddenly turns and becomes this obsessive, screaming wild man. It was absolutely amazing to behold. 

Starring Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Robert De Niro, Ian Holm, Katherine Helmond, Jim Broadbent, Peter Vaughn, and Ian Richardson, Brazil was an epic mind trip and a pure work of genius from Terry Gilliam. It was filled with action, romance, science fiction, explosions, terrorists, surgery, torture, and was nominated (and rightly so) for two Academy Awards, which where for Best Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. It’s a bizarre and fantastically twisted film that everyone needs to see at least once.