BRAZIL

BRAZIL. Terry Gilliam, dir. UK: Universal (US dist.), 1985 (copyright), 1986 (US release). 131 minutes.

For the complex history of this film, consult J. Mathews, The Battle of Brazil (cited under Drama Criticism). Very-near future dystopia, set in a funky world (as opposed to clean, shiny, and aseptic). Important for the image of the imposition of the mechanical and electronic upon the human — including being constrained in a chair for for torture —and the use of that image as a kind of metaphor for bureaucratization (opposing Romance images of the "Garden," flight, and chivalric warfare). The film at the time of released was described flippantly by some audience members and critics as "Nineteen Eighty-Four meets Monty Python": that is correct as far as it goes for an important film with a noir + cyberpunk sensibility and a very dark, and often funny, story to tell.