Gilliam is the only director who can pull off things like this. Brazil is one of the best satires I have ever seen scathing things like technology, society, government and love. Loosely based on Orwell's 1984, the movie is more or less about beurocracy fuck ups. Let's be honest, the system of government has always been fucked up. The paperwork, the small things that need to be verified and the ridiculous strcture of it all is overwhelming. And as we see in our protaganist, it's all a bunch of shit that is easy to screw up. A fly gets caught in a typewriter and *BAM* the wrong guy gets arrested. The fact even that they were looking for a renegade Heating Duct repair man is absurd.
So, why should you be interested in this movie. First thing is it's pure comedic genius. Johnathan Pryce as Sam Lowry is the perfect man out of his element. His daydreams of being a superhero flying and fighting giant samarui is just absurd. The thing that makes this movie great is its seperate into two interlocking parts. Dreams and Nightmares. Reality is a nightmare, so Lowry escapes to his fantasy dream world, which can be just as scary as the real world. It's dark, but it's hilarious. Ian Holm's character is just as funny and is probably one of his finest roles (this and Naked Lunch.) He's just as helpless in the system as Lowry. DeNiro as Tuttle was casting brilliance. A small role for DeNiro, but a great one at that. All around, the cast brings some great laughs with such a dark subject.
Beyond the hilarity and the dark subject matter and all that stuff, Brazil is a highly visceral experience. It's hard to describe the dream sequences in words and the way reality is skewed. So here I will stop writing crap and post as many pictures as possible to show you just what Gilliam can do with film. It's a darkly beautiful film. The thing with Brazil is you just need to witness it. It's like many of the other movies on this list where words can't begin to tell you how awesome it is. Just find a copy, or ask me and I will watch it with you.
Disclaimer: As many film fans know, its hard seeing movies and making lists because you are always running into new gems that deserve notoriety. Well, my top 25 will already be changing with the Addition of Brick. Simple genius. See it if you can, but I believe it is no longer in theaters. You will have to wait till August for the DVD. Anyway, it was brilliant. So it will be on here.
1 comment:
Yes.
That's all I'm going to say.
Yes.
(also, glad to see you got to see Brick and recognized its brilliance...)
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