moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (02/14/86)
Later, on looking back on this film, it struck me that the title "Brazil" is
an excellent title, in that it is about the only word in the dictionary that
this film has absolutely no association with. At any rate, a side thought;
on with the review.
I liked _Brazil_; I'm glad I went and saw it (though there are plenty of
things I could fault it with). However, I really can't recommend this to
the general net, since I doubt the features I liked most about it are of
great interest to the average moviegoer. It takes a very skilled filmaker
to tie together political messages, black/weird comedy, actual drama and
stylistic comment, along with a plot which is not enhanced by the
previously-mentioned qualities. It ends up as a 9-way tug-of-war match on
your emotions and intellect, and those that enjoy the film will be enjoy one
or two seperate pieces of film, and not, I think, the whole Magilla. It
appears to me that Gilliam tried too much too quickly, and has ended up with
a facinating piece of film, but not much of a story. In particular, it is
either extremely difficult to get black comedy and drama to mix, or American
audiences (these are the only ones I've been exposed to) just don't like it
when they're this close together; and that's where many barbs will be
pointed.
My general suggestion is this -- go see Brazil if most of the following
qualifications fit you:
1) Special technical effects are worth going to see alone.
2) Fairly bizarre satire is your forte.
3) You can enjoy unusual visual shots alone. I found myself liking parts
of this film because Gilliam shot scenes that one will never see in real
life, and are so visually unusual that they are appealing, like a
kaliedescope to a child. These shots may not add much to the story, but
they do perk interest up on the film.
4) You couldn't get enough of _1984_.
5) You like occasional visual jokes (my favorite was a takeoff on the
classic Stairs sequence from Eisenstein's _Potemkin_).
6) You don't mind gross scenes (not gorey, just gross).
7) All of the above.
8) It's worth it to see the whole thing for about 9 marvelous minutes with
Robert Duvall.
Finally, two light-hearted questions:
1) Is Ian Holm in every British film?
2) Was _1984_ sharing sets with _Brazil_
"Just remember, kid, we're ALL in this TOGETHER!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
ARPA: fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP: {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!moriarty
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