Terry Gilliam brings a unique vision to his work — a mix of social commentary, absurd slapstick and pitch black humor. BRAZIL — which is set in a cold, totalitarian society — is not only his most accomplished work narratively, but the most effective blending of the various elements of his style.
The world of BRAZIL is a bureaucratic industrial behemoth where the government controls everything, but excels at nothing. Minor tasks take ages to accomplish due to pointless paperwork. A mistake occurs that leads to a Mr. Buttle being arrested instead of Archibald "Harry" Tuttle (Robert DeNiro, AWAKENINGS), whose crime is that he is covertly operating as an engineer who is infinitely more efficient and competent than the government's Central Services workers. The error comes down to the records department where Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce, EVITA) must clean up the mess. Lowry is not only good at his job, but seemingly the only one who cares about what he's doing while the rest of his co-workers just watch TV. His boss Mr. Kurtzmann (Ian Holm, THE SWEET HEREAFTER) is a nervous wreck whose main talents are avoiding responsibility and passing the buck.
Sam's rich mother Ida (Katherine Helmond, TV's WHO'S THE BOSS?) pulls some strings to get Sam a post in Information Retrieval, who serve as the thought police of this Orwellian world. But Sam has no desire to join his old chum Jack Lint (Michael Palin, A FISH CALLED WANDA) in Information Retrieval, becoming a crony for the government. However, that is until, he discovers Jill Layton (Kim Greist, MANHUNTER), the woman in his dreams, who in real life is looking for information on her neighbor Mr. Buttle for his distraught wife. See, Sam eases the pain of his oppressive world by escaping into a fantasy realm where he a shining hero who flies to the rescue of the beautiful maiden Jill. The great cast also includes Bob Hoskins (MERMAIDS) as an incompetent repairman and Jim Broadbent (IRIS) as Ida Lowry's crazy cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jaffe.
Usually, love stories were one person seeks another person who they haven't really met don't work. They give us little reason for why the two should be together. However, BRAZIL gives us a desire, because for Sam, Jill is not only literally the girl of his dreams, but an oasis of hope from the infuriating world he lives in. It's the desire to escape from that world that we connect to, because it's really just an exaggerated version of our own world.
Gilliam, along with co-writers Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown, fill the story with wonderfully absurd moments skewering stupid bosses and leaders, pointless protocol, oppressive government polices and the stooges that carry out those idiotic orders. Skillfully they move from broader moments to subtler satire. If there is one overriding theme it's that the establishment and its rulers put on a phony face to hide obvious problems while the "lower classes" suffer for it.
Gilliam brings all of his themes to life with his brilliant visuals. I particularly enjoyed the highway that is completely shielded on both sides by billboards, which hide the wasteland that lies just on the other side. The character design for Sam in his fantasy is a stroke of brilliance, combining a vision of a knight in shining armor with the freedom that wings provide. The only thing I could have done without is the use of a giant samurai warrior as the symbol of the bad guy oppressors in the fantasy moments. Having been created in the mid-1980s, the inference of an Asian corporate ruler is at least, dated to some degree, and at worst, xenophobic.
Pryce is perfect as Sam Lowry, bringing a droll humor to his everyman character who loses himself from time to time in flights of fancy. Holm is equally suited for the role of a panic-stricken boss who relies on his best employee to make sure his department does collapse. Though he is only in three scenes, DeNiro injects humor and heroism into Harry Tuttle, which is inspired and inspiring.
Full of imagination and intelligence, BRAZIL brings humor to an oppressive future modeled on George Orwell's 1984, yet still ends in just as poignant of a way. Sam Lowry is easily Gilliam's best central character, who drives the story connecting us both emotionally and intellectually. To some degree, movies can be our fantasy escape from the corporate and governmental absurdity in our own lives. Gilliam stays bitterly true to the way life is, but reminds us that if "they" cannot take our dreams than they can never take our souls.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
