wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (02/09/86)
In the most recent issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction (March?),
Harlan Ellison proclaims Terry Gilliam's film "Brazil" to be a great
SF movie and in fact one of the greatest films of all time. Well, we
all know that ol' Harlan has a tendency toward hyperbole in his
essays. In his column he claims that Brazil is unlike any other movie
you're likely to see. What's the lowdown?
I just saw "Brazil" last night and thought I'd share my thoughts with
you. I'll probably go see it again. Note that the following comments
are presented as opinion only. "Brazil" is, in fact, sui generis.
It's a little bit of "1984," a little bit of "Time Bandits," a little
bit of the 1939 World's Fair, and a whole lot of fun. In this film,
Gilliam presents a vision of the world as it might have been if the
futurists of the 1930s and 1940s had been right on the mark. Faceless
people in a society of monumental buildings where on the surface
everything is supposed to be just peachy but in reality everything's
going to hell in a handbasket. A society of suspicion and terror
presented in the best (worst?) spirit of black humor that Mr. Gilliam
is capable of. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure "Brazil" IS a
whole lot of fun. It can be very amusing in the Swiftian sense, but it
is also a profoundly disturbing movie.
It brings to mind (for me) "The Third Policeman" by Flann O'Brien, for
some reason (the policemen in the MOI's "basement" are straight out of
O'Brien, I think), and "Memoirs Found In A Bathtub," by Stanislaw Lem.
But the associations and resonances don't stop there: this is a complex
piece of work. I found myself thinking about it last night long after
the final credits.
"Brazil" is not without its problems, and it's not a film for
everyone. The motivation of the characters' actions don't always gel
for me, and if you absolutely HATE everything Monty Python and Mr.
Gilliam have done you should steer clear of this film. You should also
steer clear of it if you have a problem with ultrablack humor. Harlan
Ellison sez the American distributor wants to add a happy ending; this
apparently hasn't happened. Eleven minutes have been trimmed in the
American version according to Harlan.
-- Cheers, Bill Ingogly