Brazil [2 Discs] [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Terry Gilliam

Overview

Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema. Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, a civil servant who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him. It's a world marred by oppressive automatization and towering bureaucracy, and populated by tyrannical guards who strongarm lawbreakers. And Lowry is stuck in the middle of this nightmare. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes (to the tune of Ary Baroso's 1930s hit "Brazil") about sailing through the clouds as a winged superhero, and rescuing beautiful Jill Layton (Kim Greist) from a giant, Samurai warrior. The omnipresent computer that controls everything in the "real" world malfunctions, causing an innocent citizen to be arrested and tortured to death. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets - and pursues Jill , literally the girl of his dreams. But in real life, she's a tough-as-nails truck driver who initially wants nothing to do with him. It turns out that she is suspected of underground activities, in connection with a terrorist network wanted for bombing public places. The price Sam pays for his association with her is a close encounter with the man in charge of torturing troublesome citizens (Michael Palin). He is rescued - at the last minute - by maintenance man Harry Tuttle (Robert de Niro) who moonlights as a terrorist, but that only represents the beginning of his plight, for now the "system" is onto him. Gilliam ran into enormous problems with Brazil. Universal - which produced the picture - originally slated it for release in 1984, but the studio - intimidated by the film's whopping length of 142 minutes - demanded that Gilliam trim the film to bring it in under two hours and alter the pessimistic ending. Gilliam refused; Universal shelved the picture for a year. In response, the director took out a full page ad in Variety asking studio president Sid Sheinberg when the film would be released. Sensing tremendous pressure, Universal bowed to Gilliam's insistence on fewer cuts but still demanded a happy ending. Gilliam trimmed only eleven minutes and altered the conclusion just slightly (instead of cutting to black, it fades into puffy white clouds on a blue sky, with a reprise of the title tune). It was thus released in early 1985 at 131 minutes, and of course became a seminal work; many critics regarded it at the time as the best film of the eighties.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/04/2012
UPC:	0715515086714
Original Release:	1985
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion
Region Code:	A
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:22:00
Sales rank:	3,705

Special Features

Disc 1 - Audio Commentary by Gilliam; ; Disc 2 - What is "Brazil"?, Rob Hedden's on-set documentary; The Production Notebook, a collection of interviews and video essays, featuring a trove of Brazil-iana from Gilliam's personal collection; ; The Battle of "Brazil," a documentary about the film's contentious release, hosted by Jack Mathews and based on his book of the same name; ; "Love Conquers All" version, the studio's 94-minute, happy-ending cut of Brazil, with Commentary by Brazil expert David Morgan; Trailer; ; Plus: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jonathan Pryce	Sam Lowry
Robert De Niro	Archibald 'Harry' Tuttle
Michael Palin	Jack Lint
Kim Greist	Jill Layton
Katherine Helmond	Ida Lowry
Ian Holm	Kurtzmann
Bob Hoskins	Spoor
Ian Richardson	Warrenn
Peter Vaughan	Helpmann
Jim Broadbent	Dr. Jaffe
Barbara Hicks	Mrs. Terrain
Charles McKeown	Lime
Derrick O'Connor	Dowser
Kathryn Pogson	Shirley
Bryan Pringle	Spiro
Sheila Reid	Mrs. Buttle
John Flanagan	TV Interviewer/Salesman
Ray Cooper	Technician
Brian Miller	Mr. Buttle
Simon Nash	Boy Buttle
Prudence Oliver	Girl Buttle
Simon Jones	Arrest Official,Basement Guard
Derek Deadman	Bill, Department of Works
Nigel Planer	Charlie, Department of Works
Gordon Kaye	MOI Lobby Porter
Tony Portacio	Neighbor in Clerk's Pool
Winston Dennis	Samurai Warrior
Diana Martin	Telegram Girl
Jack Purvis	Dr. Chapman
Elizabeth Spender	Alison/Barbara Lint
Anthony Brown	Porter, Information Retrieval
Myrtle Devenish	Typist in Jack's Office
Holly Gilliam	Holly
Ann Way	Old Lady With Dog
Terry Forrestal	Burning Trooper
Don Henderson	Black Maria Guard
Howard Lewis	Black Maria Guard,Second Black Maria Guard
Oscar Quitak	Interview Official
Patrick Connor	Cell Guard
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	Priest
Bill Wallis	Bespectacled lurker
Antony Brown	Porter, Information Retrieval
Sadie Corr?	Midget Woman
Michael Kamen	Composer
Walter Scharf	Composer

Technical Credits

Charles McKeown

Terry Gilliam

Tom Stoppard

Laura Kerr

Frank Gill, Jr.

Charles McKeown	Screenwriter
Terry Gilliam	Screenwriter
Tom Stoppard	Screenwriter
Arnon Milchan	Producer
Richard Conway	Special Effects
George Gibbs	Special Effects
Bill Weston	Stunts
Patrick Cassavetti	Producer
Vic Armstrong	Stunts
Rodney Glenn	Sound Effects
Rosie Straker	Sound Effects
Robert North	Producer
Laura Kerr	Screenwriter
Irene Lamb	Casting
Frank Gill, Jr.	Screenwriter
Tip Tipping	Stunts
Joseph Grace	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Director Terry Gilliam's comic fantasy-nightmare portrays a future in which Big Brother is definitely watching. The film suggests no particular time, boasting a retro style that gives it an ominous timelessness. Like Ridley Scott's Blade Runner or Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Brazil succeeds precisely because it presents a grimy future with real similarities to the present, where technology and efficiency lead to more, not less, government interference and bureaucracy. Brazil also adds an element of comedy to the mix; some of the zaniest scenes involve Robert DeNiro, playing against type as the hilarious terrorist Harry Tuttle. Visually, the film is a near-psychedelic wonder, with such indelible images as the bleak metropolis that launches from the ground, disrupting the idyllic dreams of unlikely hero Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce). To say Gilliam pulled out all the stops is an understatement -- it seems that every image that popped into his head has found its way into the film. Brazil was criticized by some for going too far, and this lack of restraint does extend to the sometimes hard-to-follow plot. But a little incoherence is a relatively small price to pay for what is otherwise a startlingly imaginative work.