We're all in it together... (Brazil (DVD))

Member Name: Rumblefish

Product:	Brazil (DVD)
Date:	09/02/01 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Absolutely flawless.

Disadvantages: Where's the Region 2 DVD? Eh? EH?

“Brazil...
Where hearts were entertaining June
We stood beneath an amber moon
And softly murmured someday soon...”


So begins the song, ‘Brazil’, featured so unforgettably in the film of the same name. BRAZIL is one of those all too rare films that can truly be called essential viewing. They really should show it in schools. It is a work of such depth, scale, and utter brilliance that it loses nothing after seemingly unlimited viewings. In a strange quirk of fate, events surrounding the production and release of BRAZIL are almost as famous and startling as the film itself, and provide one of the most disturbing examples of life imitating art.

But let’s start with the film itself, which is directed by Terry Gilliam, written by Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown, and stars Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, and Bob Hoskins. The film is set “sometime in the twentieth century” and, Gilliam once said, “somewhere on the Los Angeles/Belfast border”. In this placeless, timeless society, Big Brother and bureaucracy have taken over; freedom has been smothered in departmentalisation and paranoia, and monstrous government departments rule by process of never-ending paperwork. Sam Lowry (Pryce), a lowly, daydreaming clerk in this great machine, is called in to correct an administrative error that saw a Mr Buttle fatally mistaken for Mr Tuttle (tortured to death by The Department of Information Retrieval). Lowry is sidetracked by a terrorist plot to overthrow the regime, and by the materialisation of his “dream girl” (Greist). Before long, Lowry himself is battling bureaucracy as his dreams threaten to become engulfed by harsh reality.

So visually overwhelming and thematically complex is BRAZIL that a common thought upon first seeing the film is “what was all that about?” On a basic level the fi
lm fairly obviously covers much of the same ground that the likes of Orwell and Kafka have covered (early titles for BRAZIL included 1984 ½ and THE MINISTRY), in painting a dystopian picture of an oppressive, inflexible, and paranoid state system that demands conformity and obedience. The film also explores the dehumanising effect of technology and bureaucracy upon society and the individual, and the erosion of hope and imagination by the clutter of forms and files, receipts and credit ratings. Yet Gilliam himself has said that what the film is really about is “the pursuit of love” and in that sense, BRAZIL is almost an old-fashioned love story, about a meek and mild office clerk chasing the woman of his dreams. In short, BRAZIL is a romance, a thriller, a satire, a comedy, a horror movie, a social drama, and a sci-fi blockbuster all rolled into one.

Although the best part of two decades old, BRAZIL is still visually dazzling and uniquely realised. Gilliam is still perhaps the most flamboyant Hollywood director around, and the imagination displayed onscreen here is astounding. The look of the film is a unique blend of futurism and film noir, clashing lurid glossy colours with shadowy greys, and utilizing some spellbinding sets (an abandoned grain mill in London’s Dockland’s was used for the film’s climax). Gilliam’s spectacular use of the camera ensures the action scenes are funny and exciting, and some brilliant use of make-up makes for an unforgettable sub-plot about the dangers of plastic surgery.

Jonathan Pryce is superb as the Walter Mitty-esque Sam Lowry, but all the performances are of an exemplary standard (Robert De Niro’s plumber/superhero is one of his very best roles). And for a film of such depth, the three writers manage to litter the screenplay with a phenomenal amount of hilarious one-liners and comical by-play. Despite the tone of the film often nearing one of utter despair, there is a
rich humour prevalent all along that makes it hard not to laugh at the insanity (Gilliam is of course a graduate of Monty Python). Only in the poignant last moments does the film jettison the comedy altogether.

What I personally find most amazing about BRAZIL is that every single time I watch it I see or hear something new every time. Every frame of action and snippet of dialogue seems to contain something immensely clever or funny (such as the countless posters you can spot in the background e.g. ‘Be Safe: Be Suspicious’; ‘Loose Talk means Noose Talk’; ‘Don’t suspect a friend, report him’).

Quite simply, BRAZIL is a magnificent film that is gradually and deservedly being acknowledged as one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever made.

Yet the story behind BRAZIL shows how fortunate we are to be able to watch the film as it was intended at all. A book (THE BATTLE FOR BRAZIL by Jack Mathew) has even been written about the real-life drama that took place after filming was completed.

In brief, when Gilliam submitted the finished film to Universal Pictures, the then President of the studio, Sid Sheinberg, thought that he could improve upon Gilliam’s version. So he and his editors went about re-cutting/butchering the film as they saw fit. The changes made included trimming the dream sequences, cutting key pieces of dialogue, and most ludicrously of all, replacing BRAZIL’s necessarily downbeat ending with a happy, smiley ‘Love Conquers All’ ending that subverted the thrust of the entire film! So arbitrary, damaging, and stupid was this new version that the phrase ‘Sheinberg Edit’ has since entered the Hollywood lexicon as a term for crass studio interference.

Gilliam responded by refusing to endorse the new version, demanding that unless his own version was released he would want his name taken off the credits. As in the film, an underdog was under th
e cosh from a huge, mindless monster. Yet to his eternal credit, Gilliam refused to capitulate, even taking out a full-page ad in VARIETY (simply saying, “Dear Sid Sheinberg, When are you going to release my film Brazil? Terry Gilliam”) The Los Angeles Critics circle got hold of a copy of the film and organized secret screenings, then promptly named it Best Picture at their annual awards ceremony. Grudgingly, Universal released the film at just two LA cinemas, and then gave it a very limited general release (to this day it has never had the properly promoted and distributed release it deserves).

Yet ultimately Gilliam and BRAZIL have triumphed, for it has built up a loyal and expansive following in the years since its release (one of the films tag-lines was “We’re all in it together”), and it seems sure to cement its place as an all-time classic film. Its bleak message and black humour may not be to all tastes, but as another of its tag-lines stated “It’s only a state of mind”…


“When twilight dims the skies above
Recalling thrills of our love
There's one thing I'm certain of
Return...
I will...
to old...
BRAZIL.”

Summary: