Brazil (The Criterion Collection DVD edition)
Originally posted a long time ago on Paul’s Reviews Page
I’ll be rating movies on a three zone, 5-star scale. Each movie will be rated
on “Visual Appeal”, “Audio Appeal” and “Story Appeal”. Each of these three
zones can be rated up to 5 stars (or asterisks…. they load faster than
.GIFs)
Brazil (The Criterion Collection DVD edition)
V: *****
A: ****
S: *****
Synopsis: At some unspecified time and place in the 20th century, a nondescript bureaucrat becomes involved with a woman he has seen in his dreams, and in doing so, jeopardizes his otherwise stable and boring life.
Thoughts: Brazil is quite a flick. There’s a lot going on. Directed and co-written by ex-Python Terry Gilliam, Brazil is an assault on the senses…. How’s that for an original notion? Brazil takes a grim look at how our world might look in the not-too-distant-future if the tendancy toward totalitarian government, blind faith in authority and the all-too-human preoccupation with matters of vanity are allowed to run their course unchecked. Sam, our hero,
struggles, both in the fantasy world of his dreams and in the nightmare of reality, against faceless but immensely powerful opposition, hoping to free the girl of his dreams and escape to a peaceful and self-sufficient existence far
removed from from the life he knew. Beyond the film itself, Brazil represents a triumph of artistic vision over blind adherance to corporate dogma. Director Terry Gilliam battled Universal Studios for months over the release of the film in the United States. The Criterion Collection edition of Brazil includes the “Director’s Final Cut”, a very-slightly-altered version of the 142 minute release the rest of the world saw, and which was ultimately released in the US, as well as the 94 minute “Love Conquers All” Univeral Studios re-edit, with its altered opening, “happy ending” and without most of the dream sequences. The Criterion Collection edition also has one entire DVD with special features, including a blow-for blow account of the struggle to release Brazil.
In the context of of being an anti-utopian black comedy, Brazil is a masterpiece. As a social commentary, Brazil hits its mark. If that was all there was to it, that would be enough, but Brazil is also monument to perseverence. Brazil is not for everyone, that’s for sure… but it does say a lot about people and about society and is, IMHO, as significant a story as 1984. The nature of the story is different to be sure; certainly 1984 wasn’t very funny.
***UPDATE*** At the time I’d written the above review, I’d not listened to the commentaries, nor had I watched the “Love Conquers All” edit as it appears in this edition. Gilliam’s commentary is
almost as dense with information as the movie itself. One theme that keeps coming up in Gilliam’s commentary is that critics and the general population frequently remarked at how “ahead of its time” Brazil was, but it wasn’t really.
The shoe-hats and the plastic surgery and the ducts all had a place in contemporary reality in 1983. They still do. If you’re a Gilliam fan, or just a general movie buff, this edition of Brazil is wonderful, if a little pricey….