One of my favorite films - certainly in my top 10. I finally bought the 3-disc Criterion release and am really, really glad I did. I've watched it twice this weekend.

Please tell me I'm not alone in my love for Gilliam's best?

Gilliam at his un-coiled best. Michael Palin is memorable in everything he's in (writing this makes me want to watch his Pacific Rim travelogue again) and there is no exception here.

Ditto with the man players from De Niro's "Plumber" to Jonathan Pryce's befuddled Bureaucrat and beyond.

There is more invention in 5 minutes of Brazil then most films would deliver in their entire running time. Whatever you do thou, don't watch the love conquers all cut which is the studio's butchered version, always go for the Gilliam's original.


A+

I agree, Gilliam's is the one to watch.

I have seen this about 4 times now, but I have to say that it loses its appeal the more I watch, so I lowered it to a B. It has many of the same problems other Gilliam films have -- a meandering plotline with many bits that don't add up to a whole while all the individual parts are great. So I lowered my grade to a B...

A-

Definitley a joy to watch. Visually its enthralling, it's a thrilling and often funny movie in general, it carries a lot of good themes, etc. Cinematography, screenplay dialogue, the performances, it's top notch.

Even with all that beautiful sci-fi business and plot going on, the best part of the movie is Lowry's character and his arc (just like with Cole in Twelve Monkeys, I relate the two that way actually.) I just love it: The ordinary white-collor office worker who has dreams of being a hero and fighter-lover, and throws away everything to try and be it, but ultimately fails... beautiful work. The dream sequences themselves are stunning by the way, Gilliam's artistry is at its best there.

Pryce's likeable and leading man worthy Sam Lowry carries the film and does an amazing job at doing that too. He's simply loveable in his loser-dom. De Niro's short role, Holm, Hoskins, etc., all great.

If I have one big criticism, it's that as a future prediction of our world the whole thing is pretty much implausable. Weird for the sake of being weird, kind of silly, you know. Something tells me Gilliam wasn't going for realism though, he did set it in the 20th century after all. Still, it bugged me a bit. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the final 15 minute dream sequence. Just didn't leave the best taste in my mouth.

Oh, and one more thing, the score or theme song, whatever it counts as, is AMAZING. One of the best scores I've ever heard. I'm perfectly satisfied with them naming the film after it, hehe. Though Brazil as a title works well anyways.

Actually, I don't think that future is implausible at all. Much like, say, Network, this film is almost too relative today. It's absurd, but beneath the *aesthetics,* there's a strong message about the dangers of bureaucracy (and a slew of other themes I'm sure you picked up on).

Shack check out Time Bandits, and the "The Crimson Permanent Assurance" short to get an insight into the methods Gilliam uses.

I'd totally agree with Zennier on the underlying messages in this film, and its "plausible" nature behind the skin.

This one is on my must-see classics list...need to check it out soon.

Glad you liked it Shack.

I don't think Gilliam was going for realism or making a prediction of the future, instead he was twisting the 1984 model to satirize society as he saw it, much like Orwell was doing forty years before.

You did see the director's cut, right? Not the terrible U.S. version?

Yeah I saw the 142 minute one

And yeah I think I agree with trix's viewpoint... As a sci-fi future vision it's way absurd, but as a satire and criticism of us twisted into Gilliam's own head-world, it works just fine.

Again though the best part of the movie for me was Lowry's character. I loved his self-journey.

It's visionary, it's absurd, it's hilarious, but most of all - it's downright terrifying. Gilliam's trademark brand of bone-dry, pitch-black humour makes for some vicious satire, which is only aided by the brilliant production design and mishmash of genres. Indeed, the compaction of the entire 20th century into a single patchwork cultural pastiche, combined with the purposefully vague time and place, hammers down the point that this is not a parodic vision of some futurist dystopia, it's a commentary on our own times. And so it's not really a science fiction work at all, though the fantastical settings and technological advances certainly help. This is a political satire, through and through. And it's one of the best films of all time.