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Brazil
(1985, UK)
In Terry Gilliam's futuristic fantasy:
- the inventive opening scene ("Somewhere in
the 20th Century") envisioning the stylized world of an alternative
future with ductworks advertised on television by a slick salesman
and a chorus: ("Central Services. We do the work, you do the
pleasure. Hi, there. I want to talk to you about ducts. Do your
ducts seem old-fashioned, out-of-date? Central Services' new duct
designs are now available in hundreds of different colors to suit
your individual tastes. Hurry now, while stocks last, to your nearest
Central Services showroom. Designer colors to suit your demanding
taste") - interrupted by a violent explosion
- the scene of anti-terrorists, on Christmas Eve, falsely
accusing and brutally assaulting the innocent Buttle family due to
a dead beetle - causing a print-out to read Buttle instead of the
real terrorist: a renegade ("free-lance") maintenance man
Archibald
"Harry" Tuttle (Robert De Niro) - a perfect example of technological-automation
gone wacky and oppressive bureaucratic muddling in the society's Ministry
of Information, exemplified by this exchange: ("That is your receipt
for your husband, thank you, and this is my receipt for your receipt")
- Harry Tuttle's encounter with middle-management, civil
servant worker in the dull bureaucracy Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce),
to fix his ducts, and explaining how he hated paper-work: ("I
couldn't stand the paperwork. Listen, this whole system of yours
could be on fire, and I couldn't even turn on a kitchen tap without
filling out a 27B-stroke6. Bloody paperwork... I came into this game
for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light. Get in,
get out, wherever there's trouble. A man alone. Now, they've got
the whole country sectioned off. Can't make a move without a form")
- a fantasizing Sam - with recurring dreams of soaring
as a superhero with metal mechanical wings toward a mysterious Jill
Layton (Kim Greist) in the clouds - in real-life a tough truck driver
and a member of the underground resistance movement, and rescuing-saving
her from a giant, Samurai warrior
- in an alley - Sam battling baby-faced mutants and
a giant Samurai Warrior comprised of bureaucratic paraphernalia
- the grotesque plastic surgery of Sam's narcissistic
socialite mother Ida (Katherine Helmond), and another face-disfigured,
bandaged client Mrs. Shirley Terrain (Barbara Hicks) who told Sam:
("My complication had a little complication, but Dr. Chapman
says I'll soon be up and bounding about like a young gazelle")
- the scene of the terrorist bombing of a high-class
restaurant as patrons continued to consume their meals
- in his new cramped office, Sam's battle with his moving
desk
- in the downbeat conclusion, the sequence of Sam's
arrest and his strapped confinement in a torture chair in the middle
of a circular platform within a domed building to be questioned and
tortured by two torture agents as the spritely tune Brazil played;
a white-coated technician wearing a pock-marked, smiling baby mask
approached to administer torture - Sam recognized him as his friend
Jack Lint (Michael Palin), accompanied by Deputy Minister of Information
Mr. Helpmann (Peter Vaughan)
- meanwhile, Sam fantasized that he was being rescued
by commandos led by Tuttle, and escaping with Jill as they drove
away from the city to a pastoral setting; however, his ideal perfect
world was revealed to be a self-deluding illusion or fantasy - the
green vista of a pastoral backdrop where he had escaped was covered
over, and he was back in the domed torture chamber
- the film's final lines came at the moment of his demise:
(Mr. Helpmann: "He's got away from us, Jack."
Jack Lint: "Afraid you're right, Mr. Helpmann. He's gone")
- the final view of Sam was
as he was humming "Brazil" to himself - insanely lost
in his inner world
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Bureaucratic Error: Buttle, not Tuttle
Terrorist Tuttle
(Robert De Niro)
Sam's Battle With Giant Samurai
Grotesque Plastic Surgeries
Restaurant Terrorist Bombing
Sam's Battle with His Desk in Cramped Office
Tuttle's Dream-Rescue of Sam
Sam's Dream of Escaping with Jill
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