I am WAY overdue on this entry in my 15 Best Movies Ever series. Sorry about that, but I wanted to watch the film again before writing about it and recently got around to it. I know, I know. You were checking my blog every other minute just hoping the review was forthcoming. Wait no longer!
#9 is a love-it or hate-it film by Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam. The only American in the troop, Gilliam became famous for his offbeat animation and irreverant sense of humor. His early films, Time Bandits and Jabberwocky found a cult following, with the former being more in the mainstream, if that were possible for Gilliam. His later films have included one of my runner-ups to this series, 12 Monkeys (a fantastic futuristic thriller with defining performances for Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which is loosely based on the works of Hunter S. Thompson (I have not seen this picture yet).
However, I believe I stand with many Gilliam fans in stating that his best work of all is the 1985 epic, Brazil.
Brazil is a futuristic thriller/drama with a decidedly retro feel. As in 1984, the hero (Jonathon Pryce) is trapped in a world that he was never made for. He has dreams, hopes and aspirations, but is foiled at every turn by the bureaucratic system which seeks to control behavior and thoughts.
Gilliams tongue is pressed way into his cheek as he presents absurd situations and makes them seem fantastically real. Terrorism is so common that patrons of a restaurant carry on with their meal when a bomb goes off in a different portion of the establishment. Lowly repairmen are goons of the state with the power to evict a tenant from his home for simply replacing a faulty portion of duct work. Employees are not encouraged to think for themselves, but are given a tchotke for their desk which randomly picks "yes" or "no" when a decision needs to be make.
Sam Lowry dreams of overcoming the bureaucratic monster in the name of love. In fact, several times throughout the film, we get to see into his dream world, one that is the antithesis of his real life. It is a world full of grace and beauty, yet full of challenges. In his dreams he has seen a vision of a beautiful woman (Kim Griest) who is indeed the "woman of his dreams". When Lowry is sent to the home of a woman whose husband has been taken away by jackboot thugs under false pretenses, Lowry must deliver a "refund" check to the then widowed woman as the Ministry of Information has charged her account too much for "Information Retrieval" during the interrogation of her wrongfully charged husband. It's just another day for Sam.
While attempting to deliver the check to the shocked widow, Lowry spots the girl of his dreams in another apartment. He then takes every step possible to locate her and pursue "happily ever after". He finds that pursuit to be a difficult one. Toss in Katherine Helmond as Sam's vain mother, Ian Holm as Sam's wimpy boss, Bob Hoskins as a mindless drone of the state, Michael Palin as Sam's friend (?), and Robert DeNiro (in an extremely unusual role) as a renegade repairman, and you have a recipe for pure Gilliam madness. Only his type of insanity is absolutely brilliant.
Brazil is brilliantly written, cast and filmed. The complexity of the characters and the story beg repeat viewings as it is near impossible to pick up on everything the first time around.
Almost as interesting as the film is the behind the scenes story of Gilliam's struggle with Universal Studios to get the film made and released according to his vision. Warning. Brazil does not have a happy ending. Universal Studios did not like that and they butchered the movie in order to give it a happy endind, thinking that it would make more money with their cut. If you have the opportunity to purchase the Criterion edition DVD set, you will find that it comes with THREE discs. One disc is the director's cut of the film, approximately 2 1/4 hours in length. It is true to Gilliam's vision and is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Disc two contains Universal Studio's "Love Conquers All" edit, a 90 minute version of the film that has been re-edited so as to convey a completely different message, leaving out many of the best parts of what made Brazil so great. Disc Three contains a two-hour documentary, The Battle for Brazil, which tells the story of Gilliam's battle with Universal. It is extremely entertaining and gives a revealing look at how the major studios approach the business of movies.
I enjoy Brazil more with each viewing. The struggle of one man's fight against the system has been done many times. Gilliam offers a fresh vision of a world where the human spirit never surrenders, even when the physical world does everything possible to beat it down.
For more on Brazil and Terry Gilliam, I recommend these great fan sites
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