On 2010-07-17 Andrew Ellington, I´m kind of everywhere wrote: To label `Brazil´ a masterpiece seems almost cliché. To say that it is brilliant seems almost like a lazy cop-out. Standing back and reflecting on the film as a living entity, there seems to be something almost entirely alien about it, as if it were a specious all its own. There is nothing like it, yet it bleeds familiarities that make it almost comforting to the eyes. While under its spell I must say that I found myself fascinated, the entire time drawing comparisons to other more commercially acceptable work (this film, for me, feels like what would have happened if The Coen brothers rewrote `V for Vendetta´ in the vein of a 40´s film noir with `The Fifth Element´ close in mind). With the smoke cleared though, this films complexion reads something entirely its own; something I have never seen before and may never see again.
I am not an expert on director Terry Gilliam´s work, but the four films I´ve seen of his (`Monty Python and the Holy Grail´, `Brazil´, `The Fisher King´ & ´12 Monkeys´) are sheer brilliance in their respective genre´s, all of which proving him to be not simply a mere film director but a visionary, an auteur much as the same way that Michael Haneke or Lars von Trier are auteurs.
Terry Gilliam is a storyteller, not a mere movie-maker.
`Brazil´ tells the complex story of a man named Sam Lowry who works for an intelligence agency working to fight terrorism. When a mistake costs an innocent man his life, Lowry finds himself trapped in the center of government cover-up; something that he seems almost naïve to. When he falls in love (through his constant day-dreaming) with a belligerent woman seeking justice, his life spirals out of control as he is forced to recognize the condition of his own country, something he has feigned ignorance to for so long.
The world that Gilliam creates here is one that is an obvious satirical exaggeration of modern society, at times even more appropriate today than it was twenty-five years ago.
`Brazil´ is not a commercial film, not an easily accessible film to say the least. It is not something you can switch off your brain to and then appreciate, understand or enjoy. `Brazil´ is a film that you need to absorb in order to grasp its complexities, but it is well worth the extra brain-power used to understand it. With gripping performances (especially by Jonathan Pryce) as well as a slew of supporting roles by some heavy hitters (Robert De Niro, Ian Holm and Bob Hoskins), `Brazil´ has it all. The sets may be dated, and the overall conceptual outlook of a futuristic metropolis may seem old-fashioned, but the way that Gilliam weaves his tale makes up for any minor details.
I promise you this; `Brazil is unlike anything you´ve ever experienced before.. And summed up by saying Escape.... Currently Brazil has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Charles McKeown claimed The nightmarish futuristic satire brazil effectively blurs all lines between illusion and reality. Jonathan pryce plays a government statistician who chooses to blind himself to the decaying world around him. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/09/2007 Starring: Jonathan Pryce Katherine Helmond Run time: 131 minutes Rating: R Director: Terry Gilliam
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