Topic: Brazil

[Tony]

 
Tonight On BBC 2, Orwellian black comedy.....get it recorded its funny.


Brazil - 23:20

In this extraordinary vision of a futuristic bureaucratic hell from director Terry Gilliam, Jonathan Pryce stars as the Orwellian hero, a permanently harassed clerk at the all-seeing Department of Information Retrieval. Pryce is only kept sane by his vivid daydreams, which see him as a heroic flying warrior coming to the aid of a beautiful woman (Kim Greist). As unpredictable as Gilliam's Monty Python animations, this daring and dazzling take on 1984 creates a weird world inhabited by an assortment of crazy characters, including Robert De Niro as an SAS-style repairman. The movie's sledgehammer conclusion gave studio executives sleepless nights. Expect the same.

Cast:
Sam Lowry*Jonathan Pryce|Archibald "Harry" Tuttle*Robert De Niro|Mrs Ida Lowry*Katherine Helmond|Mr Kurtzmann*Ian Holm|Spoor*Bob Hoskins|Jack Lint*Michael Palin|Mr Warrenn*Ian Richardson|Mr Eugene Helpmann*Peter Vaughan|Jill Layton*Kim Greist|Dr Jaffe*Jim Broadbent|Mrs Terrain*Barbara Hicks|Lime*Charles McKeown|Dowser*Derrick O'Connor|Spiro*Bryan Pringle|Mrs Buttle*Sheila Reid

[GillE]

I stayed up to watch it but slept like a log afterwards.  Gilliam didn't impress me with his Monty Python work so I missed this when it was first released. Time Bandits and Life of Brian were good, though, so when I heard Brazil was about a state which had become totalitarian through excessive bureaucracy, I had to take a look.

The society the film portrayed resembled so many aspects of our own.  Skilled mechanics who couldn't do their jobs because they were overwhelmed with paperwork, government departments that couldn't function properly because they were all trying to get information held jealously by other departments, a police force which was focussed on people who didn't complete the paperwork yet ignored violent crime.  Finally, there was the detention and interrogation of those who fell foul of the system, often for no reason of their own.

It reminded me of Guantanamo Bay and 'Extraordinary Rendition".  It also reminded me that the Nazis, like many fascist societies, were rigorous bureaucrats who kept impeccable records of all their actions.  That's how so many were eventually convicted of their crimes.  Just as scary was how everyone in the film reacted to what was going on around them and was happy to do so - the biggest threat to them was a civil servant who wanted to take the initiative.  Gilliam's Brazil described a totalitarian state which had become immobilised by its own fearful, reactive bureaucracy but which wasn't particularly oppressive so long as individuals didn't rail against the blundering system as it meted out injustice.

Sadly, Gilliam is a visionary; he foresaw what a awaited society which could no longer dream safely.  This film should be viewed by anyone who wishes to consider themselves educated.  Yes, Tony - I recorded it



The theme tune - fantastic!  It's the perfect samba.

Gill

[sam]

argh, I missed it ... and for once I cant find a torrent with it in.. I'll have to see if it is repeated

[GillE]

A second thought - apparently, Kate Bush was involved with Michael Kamen writing the soundtrack for this film.  Finally I think I understand her Hounds of Love CD and the videos which accompany it.  It's a pity her last CD didn't have the same inspiration.

Gill