Film Review: Brazil

Director: Terry Gilliam

I decided to re-watch Brazil after a special request from a follower after my review of Twelve Monkeys (which showed I disagreed with pretty much everybody). It is a film that many consider Gilliam's finest work and is often cited as a film you must see. Having already seen the film I didn't have to worry about sky high expectations but looked for familiar themes and ideas within Gilliam's work, I also have to admit to British actor spotting within the film as the likes of Michael Palin, Bob Hoskins and Jim Broadbent all appear in the film. The title comes from a 1930's song called ''Aquarela do Brasil'' which is played in the background a lot during the film and is a song that talks about dreams and escapism.

Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a government employee at the Ministry of Information but dreams of being a hero who saves a maiden from peril. He is tasked with rectifying an error after a fly gets jammed in a printer meaning that Archibald Buttle is arrested instead of suspected terrorist Archibald ''Harry'' Tuttle (Robert De Niro). Sam ends up in contact with Tuttle due to a problem with his air conditioning in his apartment which sets off the chain of events as he tries to find the mysterious woman he sees in his dreams.

*possible spoilers as I discuss themes within the movie* The themes of endless bureaucracy and computers being in charge of so much information but very little maintenance cause them to be near useless. It felt as if Gilliam was trying to fire a warning shot about the dangers of bureaucracy making a system so slow that it isn't fit for purpose (in this case a mistake with the printer costs a man his life). The idea of everyone having their own desk inside their own office and being cut off from everyone is also a scary proposition and adds to the feel of everyone in the film being de-humanized. This is what sparks Lowry's dreams of being a hero and somebody important who gets the girl away from the concrete existence he has for himself currently.

A big theme that is often missed from the movie is shown in the opening scene as the Deputy Prime Minister talks about dealing with terrorism and Information Retrieval charging (this being a euphemism for torture). It is shown later in the film that if you plead guilty to any offences against you then you will be ''charged'' less for the torture you will receive.

Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry

The first hour of the film gives you an impression of what the world is like at this time in an unknown country sometime in the twentieth century. It shows a mass of pipes around people's apartments which constantly go wrong, food that all looks the same but is supposed to be different and a faceless ministry ruling over everyone with an iron fist. Gilliam is using this as a mirror to real life where the working classes feel they have no control over so many things that happen in their life. I felt it was a full hour where the film kept stalling whilst we found out very little about the characters within it but still has some key scenes that are crucial to understanding Gilliam's thoughts. Although some moments were just downright bizzare and seemed to be weird for the sake of it. The second half bounds into life after around an hour which keeps the story moving to a fantastic climax, this was the sort of twist I was expecting in Twelve Monkeys that never came.

3/4 Strange and slightly pointless moments to first half but really comes together to a superb ending