Day 51: Brazil (1985)
Being one of my favorite films of all time, I was thrilled to learn I would get the opportunity to rewatch and analyze Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece “Brazil” as part of “The Criterion Summer.” A work as hilarious as tragic, it is, in my opinion, the greatest work of dystopian satire since Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times.” Playing off the template of paranoia and bureaucratic interference found in such works as “Brave New World” and “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” this one time Python turned director found the absurdity in the scenario and heightened it to almost palpable levels without sacrificing its core darkness.
In “Brazil,” we find Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a low-level government official working for a country steeped in protocols, procedures, and paperwork. If you need something, anything, there’s a form for it. If a family member is taken from you by the police, know at least you’ll get a receipt. It’s a crazy way of life, but Sam just does his best to keep his head down and name clear even though his well connected mother (Katherine Helmond) keeps trying to get him promoted to the “Ministry of Information,” the national agency in charge of making sure everything (and everyone) stays in order.
Though content with his work, Sam does find himself dreaming constantly of flying amongst the clouds, with the aid of mechanical wings, as he strives to save a beautiful woman (Kim Greist), who is always just out of his reach. Unsure of what to make of these images, Sam continues about his duties until, one day, suddenly spotting the woman of his dreams while at his office! Though she disappears before he can meet her, Sam is determined to find out who the woman is, even if that means taking the “Ministry of Information” promotion and risking everything he knows to do so.
One of the many reasons ”Brazil” is such an brilliant film is its clever ability to represent its main themes of containment and freedom. Notice how the opposite of freedom here is containment, not oppression. For in this society people are certainly oppressed, but with a mix of obliviousness and apathy, they are far from realizing it. They are like ants in an ant farm- so unconcerned with what is beyond the glass that they busy their lives creating a home in the space given to them. These people are, above everything else, comfortably contained and, for the most part, okay with it.
To best represent that idea, Gilliam comes up with some very interesting visual imagery. For one, everything the city runs on, heating, air conditioning, even sewage, goes through large ducts that hang about in every building, visible to all. This is an interesting take on containment as, unlike a metal pipe, these plastic ducts can be easily broken. Like the society they wind through, the duct system runs smoothly until something presses against it, pushing for freedom. When that happens it can burst, breaking the pathway that has already been put in place, and distrupt the entire flow of the system. In his controlled world, Sam happenstancually presses against the system that has been constructed to a degree that eventually it might break, leading either to freedom or a quick fix by the government, which will exterminate the problem and get the system running smoothly back to its old ways.
Another prime example of containment can be found in the construction of everything found in the city. For example, Sam drives what almost looks to be a clown car by its diminutive stature. It’s so tiny, in fact, that he must bring his elbows firmly against his sides if he wants to steer. The same goes for the police vans, which are blocky and and broad, but, nevertheless, a bit too compact for comfort. It is this visual aspect that also helps define the beautiful woman that Sam is oppressed with because she, on the other hand, drives a semi sized hauling truck that dwarves everything around it. She is, in everyway, the embodiment of freedom.
With her hair cut short, in a tomboy fashion, the beautiful woman, who Sam will eventually know as Jill, stands in direct opposition to conformity and containment. She wears military fashioned men’s clothes, questions the system, and even punches a robot in it’s eye when it leers too long at her on a visit to the “Ministry of Information.” She is definitely a clog in the system’s “ducts.”
Besides Jill, freedom is mainly represented in the film by Sam’s dream sequences, as he flies through the air trying to save the imprisoned Jill from her floating cage. It also comes into effect at the film’s climax as Sam runs from the Ministry’s agents and constantly finds exits through walls and other solid objects. He is, in a sense, busting through things that would normally be considered impenetrable. As he seeks out Jill and freedom, he can now suddenly overcome the things that have always blocked his path.
But, the best part of the film occurs when these concepts of containment and freedom strangely find a way to coincide, leading to an ending revelation that simply astounds and leads us to wonder if these themes really are as black and white as we’d like to think they are.
Truly one of Gilliam’s greatest works, “Brazil” should be seen and enjoyed by all. A delicious and one of the greatest achievements in Science Fiction cinema.
To learn more about “Brazil,” check out Criterion’s page here.
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