Brazil is a very irreverent and humorous movie that deals with serious themes and philosophical queries. Brazil is an analysis and critique of some of the sins and obsessions of our society (still valid more than 30 years later): incompetent and self-absorbed bureaucracy, the obsession with youth and plastic surgery, government censorship, terrorism, social and media manipulation, order and chaos dynamics, the place of the individual in Society, and the validity of day-dreaming to create you real world amongst many others. The moral of the story lies beneath, clearly visible, but masked as a surreal dreamy science-fiction satire. There are many elements that reminded me of Orwell's "1984", but Brazil is funnier and focuses more in the power of the individual again the System than in the powerlessness of the individual in front of an oppressive System.
The movie has an unique and original visual style, especially brilliant if we take into account that the especial effects are all mechanical and not digital, and that some of them were really difficult to create when the movie was filmed. All the day-dreaming and dreams segments are brilliantly shot, as well as the impacting images related to the interrogation at the end of the movie, which were shot inside an abandoned thermonuclear plant.
Brazil's atmosphere is also excellent with a predominance of grey and beige hues and a fashion style that mixes elements from the 1950s and the 1980s to create an undated near future. This mix of contemporary and retro was extremely original and innovative at the time, and it is so still nowadays. In fact, the retro-future style has fed the aesthetics of contemporary movies considered visually innovative, like Jean-Pierre Jeunet's City of Lost children, Delicatessen, and Micmacs, and Proyas' Dark City amongst others.
The performances of most leading and supporting actors are great. Jonathan Pryce's physique and acting talent are a perfect combination to create the character of Sam, a very normal man who is also very vulnerable, naughty, adventurous and dreamy. Katherine Helmond is brilliant and very funny as Sam's eccentric mother Ida. Robert de Niro is fun in his small cameo as subversive independent heating technician, as well as Bob Hoskins as the legal heating technician, Ian Holm as the incompetent Mr. Kurtzmann, and Michel Palin as the butcher at the Information Central Office. I did not like the performance of Kim Greist as Jill Layton; she looks great on camera but her acting was a bit unsubstantial.
The Original Sound Track is mostly the song Brazil (an adaptation of a Brazilian song of the 1930s) played over and over but with different arrangements and tempos that go from playful to melodramatic. The music works perfectly, and it constantly reminds the viewer that Brazil is a real place, a better place where to live the dream life one wants, a perfect destination in your mind to escape the greyness of our daily discontent and the oppressive world that ignores and enslaves the individual.
The European poster of the movie is just an awesome piece of art, and it conveys what the core of the story is perfectly.
Brazil is an unforgettable classic - original, thought-provoking and extremely entertaining. Still, a bit too long for me.
