Brazil (1985)
“This is your receipt for your husband... and this is my receipt for your receipt.” – Arresting Officer
Sam Lowry is having dreams. He dreams of flying free above the earth, soaring through clouds while experiencing supreme bliss. He finds the love of his life, the girl of his dreams, and goes to her. But she is taken captive below by a giant and his faceless army. Down below live huddled slaves, too afraid to do much of anything. The giant hacks off Lowry’s wings, making him slave to the surface world. Terry Gilliam uses these dream sequences in Brazil to represent Lowry’s inner turmoil as he constantly questions the truths and injustices in a heavily bureaucratic, corporate-run, dystopic future. The film is pure imagination. The giant is representative of the corporate-run, totalitarian state, while the slaves are obviously the blind population that has accepted its repression. The soldiers in Brazil are dressed to look like fascist troops. And while the film may borrow heavily from George Orwell’s 1984, the timeless themes and dry, dark humour instilled by Gilliam himself results in a distinctly original vision. There is no Big Brother here; just a pessimistic depiction of humanity having lost that which made it human. Although dreams and real hope for escape from this world have become Lowry’s ultimate obsession, his only true escape is into his own imagination.
Sam Lowry is having dreams. He dreams of flying free above the earth, soaring through clouds while experiencing supreme bliss. He finds the love of his life, the girl of his dreams, and goes to her. But she is taken captive below by a giant and his faceless army. Down below live huddled slaves, too afraid to do much of anything. The giant hacks off Lowry’s wings, making him slave to the surface world. Terry Gilliam uses these dream sequences in Brazil to represent Lowry’s inner turmoil as he constantly questions the truths and injustices in a heavily bureaucratic, corporate-run, dystopic future. The film is pure imagination. The giant is representative of the corporate-run, totalitarian state, while the slaves are obviously the blind population that has accepted its repression. The soldiers in Brazil are dressed to look like fascist troops. And while the film may borrow heavily from George Orwell’s 1984, the timeless themes and dry, dark humour instilled by Gilliam himself results in a distinctly original vision. There is no Big Brother here; just a pessimistic depiction of humanity having lost that which made it human. Although dreams and real hope for escape from this world have become Lowry’s ultimate obsession, his only true escape is into his own imagination.
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