Brazil (1985)

[Minas Tirith]

There is no thread for this movie and i think it deserves one. I recently re-watched it and was astounded how much stuff in it "came to be" in our present society, particularly outstanding the imposing of fear through false-flag terrorist attacks and "the devil may care attitude" of the general public towards being governed by martial law. The most unforgettable scene here being four characters resuming to dine in what looks like a five-star-restaurant when such a "terrorist" attack takes place, with a shielding screen being kindly put in by the waiter so that they don't have to see the bloodshed that is going on behind their backs.

The movie is also funny, being directed by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame, but oh, do you really want to laugh? It's so scaringly accurate ...

Here is a little Wikipedia:

Brazil is a 1985 British film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard. British National Cinema by Sarah Street describes the film as a "fantasy/satire on bureaucratic society" while John Scalzi's Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies describes it as a "dystopian satire". The film stars Jonathan Pryce and features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm.

The film centres on Sam Lowry, a man trying to find a woman who appears in his dreams while he is working in a mind-numbing job and living a life in a small apartment, set in a consumer-driven dystopian world in which there is an over-reliance on poorly maintained (and rather whimsical) machines. Brazil '​s bureaucratic, totalitarian government is reminiscent of the government depicted in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four,[4][5] except that it has a buffoonish, slapstick quality and lacks a Big Brother figure.

Jack Mathews, film critic and author of The Battle of Brazil (1987), described the film as "satirizing the bureaucratic, largely dysfunctional industrial world that had been driving Gilliam crazy all his life".[6] Though a success in Europe, the film was unsuccessful in its initial North America release. It has since become a cult film.

The film is named after the recurrent theme song, "Aquarela do Brasil", as performed by Geoff Muldaur.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_%281985_film%29

M.T.

 

[cindyj]

One of my all-time favorites...

A line I always remember: "My complication had a tiny complication." (regarding a botched plastic surgery)

 

[loreta]

It is a fantastic movie, and very scary one, a tragedy. It reminds me 1984 of Orwell and also the Trial of Kafka. I think it is the best movie of Terry Gilliam. Too bad that we can't see this movie anymore in a big theater, the last image is terrific.

 

[wanderer]

Yeah, a great movie but I don't think I could sit through it again

 

[Divide by Zero]

I got to see the movie last night and wow, yes it was very much like 1984 with some humor thrown in.

Loreta, the last scene is indeed terrific and gave a big shock. However, it was more believable than those typical hollywood endings where everything works out last second!

 

[loreta]

I got to see the movie last night and wow, yes it was very much like 1984 with some humor thrown in.

Loreta, the last scene is indeed terrific and gave a big shock. However, it was more believable than those typical hollywood endings where everything works out last second!

Yes, the last scene, specially if you see it in a theater with a huge screen, is terrific, amazing. It is a chock. It puts you right in reality, you like it or not. :)