If there was one person in the last 40 years who most likely looked into a time machine, all bets are onTerry Gilliam, who predicted our bizarre and bleak future in his black comedy/dystopian sci-fi masterpiece,Brazil. Whilehardly a cultural phenomenon upon releasein 1985, an era when escapist blockbusters about American exceptionalism thrived at the multiplexes, Gilliam’s take on an anonymous, totalitarian society imbued with paranoia and consumerism was an equally uproarious and sobering cross betweenGeorge OrwellandFranz Kafka. Many of cinema’s acclaimed satires on society and culture have aged poorly in the wake of our rapidly changing world, butBrazilhasn’t lost an ounce of relevance, which is no doubt a troubling sign. Gilliam warned us of a world deprived of privacy, personal autonomy, and ornate but empty technology, but we clearly didn’t listen.
Terry Gilliam’s Inventive Production Design Elevates ‘Brazil’
Hailing from the Monty Python comedy troupe, Gilliam quickly emerged as one of the most visually astute and imaginative filmmakers of his generation. WithBrazil,he deployed his comedy background totackle weighty subjectssuch as bureaucracy and authoritarianism through an absurdist lens, and he would adopt this model of converging highbrow and low-brow sensibilities withThe Fisher King,12 Monkeys, andFear and Loathing in Las Vegas.Brazil, still his most acclaimed film and synonymous with the frantic Gilliam style, follows Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a lowly government employee who dreams of flying over his dystopian environment and saving his imaginary damsel-in-distress. During a fatal mix-up at his job, Sam discovers the woman in his dreams, Jill Layton (Kim Greist), who is mistakenly considered an accomplice to suspected terrorist Archibald Tuttle (Robert De Niro).
Even ifBrazildidn’t feature such rich and prescient commentary about a paranoid civilization dependent on technology, Terry Gilliam’simpressive and immersive formalismwould be enough to analyze and fawn over. On the outside, this unknown city, a hybrid of classical architecture and futuristic technology, is quite lavish, but the best dystopian stories temporarily deceive the audience into accepting a world as a utopia. Inside the skyscrapers, however, is a dreary void worn down and uninspired. Despite the spectacle of high-tech innovation at the corporate offices, everything is ultimately broken. The level of incompetence amid the promise of a technological revolution rings true in a contemporary media climate that has ushered streaming services, algorithms, and artificial intelligence into our everyday consumption. Between the inconvenience of user interfaces on streamers and faulty search engines on social media,Braziltelegraphed that society tends to make things needlessly more complicated.
Terry Gilliam Creates an Absurdist Satire About Incompetence of Society in ‘Brazil’
Gilliam’s roots as an absurdist comedy writer and performerallow us to laugh at our own misery.Even the finest satires are guilty of swaying too far from the comedic background of the genre, but Gilliam commits to the farce ofBrazilbecause of the sheer ineptitude of figures at the highest levels of authority. Power and advanced resources not onlycorrupt people’s moralitybut also strip them of common sense. Within this art deco landscape, the film makes its inhabitants feel microscopic, and in turn,the governing body treats them as data points with predetermined fates.Whether it’s the government or major corporations, there has never been more distrust in mighty figures, but we can take solace in punching up and ridiculing their buffoonery. Gilliam keeps the zany humor moving as quickly as his camera zips past overworked laborers inside the office, even with the twist ending that proves to be anything but a happy one. This conclusion was so upsetting that Universal headSid Sheinbergnearly canned the film entirely.
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Throughout the film, we cut to Sam Lowry’s dreams as a guardian angel, watching over the city and gliding through the clouds to find his idyllic woman. These vignettes are juxtaposed with Sam’s reality, where he embodies a rat trapped in a never-ending maze. We never see the sky or the top floor of buildings, creating a sensation of imprisonment,and our only chance of experiencing the simple beauties of life is through escapism. The concept of rescuing a damsel in peril is knowingly pastiche and retrograde, but in downtrodden times, we lean on a glossy remembrance of past ideas and principles.
Before getting mixed up in the accidental arrest and eventual death of Archibald Buttle (Brian Miller), Sam, a worker with little inspiration, canturn to this guardian fantasyto lift his spirits and swiftly return to his dull life. Today, with the advent of augmented realities and the boom of escapist blockbusters dominating theories, most people prefer to be taken out of the real world. Terry Gilliam’sBrazilis an enthralling and gripping sci-fi black comedy with groundbreaking sets and visual iconography and, most disturbingly, a prescient indictment of the degradation of society.
Brazilis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
Rent on Prime Video
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
