UPAC Cinema featured Brazil last Saturday as part of the Club film series. For those of you who may not have heard of the film, it is a 1985 dystopian satire directed by Terry Gilliam featuring Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin and Ian Holm. For first-time viewers, the film will certainly strike as queer or even “tipsy,” as some put it. Yet, despite the dramaticism (it is, after all, an artsy film), it is an extremely good satire of the potential of overdone anti-terrorism, prevalent in the post-September 11 era. The depiction of the misuse of bureaucratic power is superb; this was prevalent after the signing of the Patriot Act in 2001, which controversially authorized U.S. law enforcement agencies to search telephone, e-mail communication, medical, financial, and other records for the “stated purpose of fighting terrorisim.” Brazil will leave you with a lot to think about.
In this film, Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a gawky bureaucrat clerk that gets caught in the middle of a revolution all because of an error, where revolutionists—termed “terrorists”—set out to destroy the bureaucratic government state. The loss of the “power of the people” is apparent, as daily routines are governed by unfair rules and regulations and clouded by red tape. The government is run on the slogan “Suspicion Breeds Confidence,” justifying the kidnapping of rebellious civilians who are then tortured or imprisoned. Despite the serious motives of the government, the film glosses over the morality of a big bureaucracy, leaving the audience to capture the message that highlights the personal fight of Lowry. Still, the engaging screenplay is excellent in representing the disturbing lifestyle of this “future”—not far from the present reality—and the script is filled with sharp satire, humor, and wit.
The set and art direction are boundless, as Lowry’s dreams counter the crisp, stoic world run by the government. His mind is filled with captivating imagery; Lowry grows angel-like wings so that he can fly among the clouds, eventually encountering the woman of his dreams. His thoughts progress to foreshadow the real fight with the bureaucracy; he must battle an armor-suited monster and then the crawling, torturing minions of the government. Although some will consider the metaphoric transitions as overboard, the superb detail and imagination that captivate the viewer cannot be denied. The story has tense, mysterious, and macabre moments that gel together perfectly, while Lowry’s dream sequences are hypnotic. The haunting musical score, too, thunders with emotion.
The performances were good and colorful—but nothing really spectacular. Pryce is charming as the love-struck Lowry; Greist is elegantly mysterious as Jill Layton, the girl Lowry’s after; De Niro is chirpy as plumber-revolutionist Tuttle; Katherine Helmond is creepy as Lowry’s obsessive mother, Ida Lowry.
All in all, this is a brilliant and innovative film; a definite must-see. Though it’s long, it is never dull, and does not leave you wanting more at the end. It definitely does, however, leave a significant impression—well, it did on me.
