Brazil

Name: Brazil
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama, Fantasy
Released: December 18, 1985
Duration: 132 min
Rating: 84
Cast: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro

1985

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Universal acclaim based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 365 Ratings

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8.6

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8.6	User Score Universal acclaim based on 365 Ratings

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Brazil

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: December 18, 1985 | R

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro

Summary: Brazil is a surrealistic nightmare vision of a "perfect" future where technology reigns supreme. Everyone is monitored by a secret government agency that forbids love to interfere with efficiency. When a daydreaming bureaucrat (Pryce) becomes unwittingly involved with an underground superhero and a beautiful mystery woman, he becomes theBrazil is a surrealistic nightmare vision of a "perfect" future where technology reigns supreme. Everyone is monitored by a secret government agency that forbids love to interfere with efficiency. When a daydreaming bureaucrat (Pryce) becomes unwittingly involved with an underground superhero and a beautiful mystery woman, he becomes the tragic victim of his own romantic illusions. [Universal Pictures]… Expand

Director: Terry Gilliam

Genre(s): Sci-Fi, Drama, Fantasy

Rating: R

Runtime: 132 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Film.com John Hartl

For all its occasional long-windedness and visual dazzle, Brazil may be the "Strangelove" of the 1980s.

100

Dave Kehr

A ferociously creative 1985 black comedy filled with wild tonal contrasts, swarming details, and unfettered visual invention--every shot carries a charge of surprise and delight. Read full review

100

Janet Maslin

Brazil may not be the best film of the year, but it's a remarkable accomplishment for Mr. Gilliam, whose satirical and cautionary impulses work beautifully together. His film's ambitious visual style bears this out, combining grim, overpowering architecture with clever throwaway touches. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Chillingly hilarious. Read full review

James Berardinelli

Brazil can be enjoyed without knowledge of the behind-the-scenes circumstances but the rich irony of the parallels between Gilliam and his fictional creation, Sam Lowry, add a layer of appreciation to the project that it otherwise lacks. Read full review

Pauline Kael

Visually, it’s an original, bravura piece of moviemaking, with a weirdly ingenious vertical quality: the camera always seems to be moving up and down, rarely across. Read full review

Stanley Kauffmann

Brazil doesn't add up to much, not only because its cautionary tales are familiar, but because it has no real point of view, nothing urgent under its facile symbols. And the story winds on and on looking for a finish. Three or four times I reached for my coat prematurely. [17 Feb 1986, p.26]

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User Reviews

BOB

Sep 14, 2008

A classic cult film, if that is possible.

1 of 1 users found this helpful

PaulE

Dec 8, 2007

Brazil is surely Terry Gilliam's masterpiece. With this surrealistic vision he draws a distorted image of the modern world which shows up the cruelty of the authority of the state and is simultaneously so close to the emotional world of the protagonist that it don't let the viewer go.

2 of 2 users found this helpful

RyanC.

Sep 7, 2008

A beautiful, dystopian mess.

8 of 8 users found this helpful

Spangle

Feb 2, 2017

Simultaneously the second entry into Terry Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination" and the first entry in his "Dystopian Trilogy", Brazil is a masterwork of pure satirical genius. More aligned with modern day America than I am comfortable to admit, Brazil is a cautionary tale of governmentSimultaneously the second entry into Terry Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination" and the first entry in his "Dystopian Trilogy", Brazil is a masterwork of pure satirical genius. More aligned with modern day America than I am comfortable to admit, Brazil is a cautionary tale of government control where freedom is assumed, but is merely an illusion. Working in the Ministry of Information, Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a lowly worker who just does as he is told and keeps plugging along with no aspirations for anything better. Except, he keeps having dreams where he is a winged angel and trying to save a mystery girl. Learning that this girl is Jill Layton (Kim Greist), Sam tries to find her, only to discover that the government believes her to be a violent terrorist. Now, he must subvert the government to find the girl that he loves. A visually rich and thematically dense film, Brazil is a hard nut to crack and though this review will make it sound like I know what I am talking about, allow me to assure you that the opposite is in fact true.

In my review of Time Bandits, the first entry in the "Trilogy of Imagination", I highlighted one of the major themes in that work as being materialism. With a psychotic obsession towards material items over their own child, Kevin's parents in that film ignore him at all costs. Gilliam continues this thematic discussion in Brazil, except it takes on a particularly politically charged tone. During the Cold War, the American government equated the communists with being godless heathens. Therefore, to be truly godly, one must be a capitalist. As such, spending and material goods are good and a glory to God. Throughout the film, Gilliam critiques this idea with a visual motif of a glowing blue cross in various shots, but also takes shots at the biggest glorification to capitalism in existence: Christmas. Setting Brazil during Christmas time allowed Gilliam to adorn each scene with a reference to the gift giving holiday. Everybody in the film has some asinine gift they are carrying or give to another person. Sam receives presents from nearly everybody he sees in the film and it is never something he truly wants. Interesting to note as well that nobody says "Merry Christmas" in the film, rather they always say "Happy Christmas". However, Gilliam ensures that this is a religious critique during a sequence in a shopping mall. One boy is carrying what appears to be a folder that reads, "Consumers for Christ" on the cover. Similar to the glowing blue cross, this folder is also blue. Highlighting the capitalist indoctrination disguised as Christianity, Gilliam decries the linking together of religion and mindless consumption above all else. This is further emphasized through Sam's mother (Katherine Helmond) and her friend Mrs. Terrain (Barbara Hicks). The two are constantly getting face lifts to look younger and while Mrs. Lowry's goes fine, Mrs. Terrain is constantly shown with bandages due to her complications having complications. For Gilliam, this is a way of punishing the vanity and mindless materialism and consumption that has gone on in our present society.

This is further underscored in a callback to Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin and the famous Odessa steps sequence. In that famous sequence, people are gunned down on the Odessa steps by guards and, as she runs down, a mother's baby carriage gets stuck and begins to tumble down the steps. Gilliam takes this scene as inspiration towards the end as Sam has a dream about escaping from the prison he is held in. During his breakout - with the help of Archibald "Harry" Tuttle (Robert De Niro) - the guards in the Ministry of Information are shooting at the escapees from the stairs and begin walking down them. As they do, a vacuum tumbles down the steps akin to the baby carriage in Battleship Potemkin. Here, Gilliam creates a parallel between the baby and the vacuum, in essence saying that we now serve machines and the system, instead of our children and one another. Our purpose and focus in life has shifted from each other to the soulless machines in the name of innovation. This is further confirmed, in hindsight, by a sequence earlier in the film. The chief torturer of the Ministry of Information is a friend of Sam's named Jack (Michael Palin). While visiting with Jack, Sam sees Jack speak to one of his three children. During this conversation, Jack calls the girl "Amy" and later "Chloe", despite the girl's protests that she is actually "Holly". He seems disinterested and makes a crack about never really knowing anymore. For Jack and for everybody else living in this dystopian society, the only things that matter are work, consumption, and maintaining the status quo determined by those in power. All else fall by the waste side, especially family. Viewed in conjunction with the vacuum/baby carriage parallel, it is clear that Gilliam wishes to highlight this as a major fault in our present society.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Skullgirlsfan13

May 21, 2013

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is one of those movies, you know, the ones that are claimed to be very good but yet you cannot understand why. Besides some of the obvious things of course, like fighting amongst yourself, how people try to improve the self through products, and government control. That stuff I think a lot of people can understand, but I don't know why it deserves as much credit as some may say. It does have only two people that I know in it; Robert De Niro and that guy from who framed Roger rabbit, but I don't think there're any bad performances, if anything there all good or okay. The story is what makes this story interesting and the execution is what makes it unique. The effects of course are somewhat dated, but like Akira, it seems to fit the setting and mood perfectly. There isn't much else to say. Oh wait, the action in this is not that great, and it is a a bit sad because the most visually intereresting sections are based off action, and when they don't look as well it can take away from the scene. In the end, this is a very interesting social commentary, and is one of the best dystopian movies out there.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Aug 7, 2008

Close to a perfect movie but begins to lose focus as some great ideas give way to a formulaic plotline.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

RockoD.

Jan 14, 2008

Awful movie. This is one of those movies people who like to appear intelligent say they totally got, but they are lying. This movie doesn't make any sense.

0 of 7 users found this helpful

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