jimc@haddock.UUCP (01/27/86)
Cross _1984_ with _Alice_in_Wonderland_, toss in a little bit of Coleridge's
"Tower of Kubla Khan", and you have _Brazil_. This surrealistic assault on
the senses, created by Englishman Terry Gilliam, is set "somewhere in the
twentieth century", where the clothing styles and typewriter keyboards of the
1940's are mysteriously superimposed atop the microwave ovens and
supercomputers of today. A remarkably lavish production, with sets like I
have never seen before, unfolds in a hurried and often confusing manner to
find us following the familiar story of a dissatisfied bureaucrat struggling
to find meaning in a malevolently governed society. In this blacker-than-
black comedy, we are not scared the way we were in Orwell's _1984_ or in the
1984 film adaptation of that novel, but instead are made to feel disgust at
Hollywood, consumerism, computerization, bureaucracy, and religious
commercialism which are all present in our society but taken to their logical
extreme in this hypothetical one.
I wish I could say I enjoyed myself. At best, I found it interesting, but I
felt so overwhelmed and disjointed that the idea of being "entertained" was
quite alien to me by the time the movie ended. The displaced feeling which
persisted long after it was over was closely akin to that very tenuous grip
on reality I sometimes feel after just waking up from a nightmare.
If you take an academic interest in the ability of cinema to create illusion,
I recommend you see it. However, I STRONGLY recommend you leave the children
home when you see this R-rated feature; they would not understand it and
would without a doubt be horrified.
No rating.
______________________________
Jim Campbell
{decvax ! cca | yale | ihnp4 | cbosgd}!ima!jimc
{bbncca | harvard | zurton | cfib | mit-ems | wjh12 }!ima!jimc
{uscvax | ucla-vax | vortex}!ism780!jimc
INTERACTIVE Systems, 7th floor, 441 Stuart St, Boston, MA 02116; 617-247-1155msc@saber.UUCP (Mark Callow) (01/27/86)
> the senses, created by Englishman Terry Gilliam, is set "somewhere in the
Terry Gilliam is American. I've seen interviews with the Monty Python
gang during which they teased him about it.
--
From the TARDIS of Mark Callow
msc@saber.uucp, sun!saber!msc@decwrl.dec.com ...{ihnp4,sun}!saber!msc
"Boards are long and hard and made of wood"krantz@csd2.UUCP (Michaelntz) (01/28/86)
We are told that: > Cross _1984_ with _Alice_in_Wonderland_, toss in a little bit of Coleridge's > "Tower of Kubla Khan", and you have _Brazil_. "Tower of Kubla Khan"? That AIN'T the name of the poem, man. Come on...
mr@isrnix.UUCP (michael regoli) (01/28/86)
[]:][:[] []:][:[] > From: haddock!jimc Jan 26 16:45:00 1986 > The displaced feeling which persisted long after it was over was closely > akin to that very tenuous grip on reality I sometimes feel after just waking > up from a nightmare. i heard an interview with gilliam and, as he warned, this is a nightmare that he's been having for years. he reveled in the fact that now it's going to be our nightmare. -- -- .^. michael regoli /|\ ...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!isrnix!mr '|!|` <mr@isrnix.UUCP>
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (01/29/86)
"Brazil" is the *best* movie ever filmed. It is "fucking brilliant". If you see it and aren't completely fascinated with it, commit suicide now. Take your kids to see it too -- it may disturb them enough so they will become warped and grow up to making fucking brilliant movies like "Brazil". If you didn't like it and want to flame at me because you think suicide is too extreme, better do it via mail, because I don't read this newsgroup (just greping through the spool directories for interesting things).... Maybe I would if the average movie were one one-thousandth as good as "Brazil". "I think it has something to do with free will" Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)
jimc@haddock.UUCP (01/31/86)
> "Brazil" is the *best* movie ever filmed. It is "fucking > brilliant". If you see it and aren't completely fascinated with > it, commit suicide now. Take your kids to see it too -- it may > disturb them enough so they will become warped and grow up to > making fucking brilliant movies like "Brazil". If you didn't > like it and want to flame at me because you think suicide is too > extreme, better do it via mail, because I don't read this > newsgroup (just greping through the spool directories for > interesting things).... Maybe I would if the average movie were > one one-thousandth as good as "Brazil". Well, I think I can get on the net and say this one. I don't ever claim to speak for the everyone when I write a review, and in making this assumption, I would therefore feel it improper that people just take my advice (or anyone else's) without question. If you or anyone else happen to find _Brazil_ that good, splendid. I never said it wasn't good; it has some solid production values with some good jokes. I just found it overbearing; there was just too much movie there to give me any perspective on the film. Another viewer may not think so. Judge for yourself. I must, however, stand by my warning not to bring children. There are many grotesque and frightening images in it (such as the face lift scene, the nightmares, the torture scene, the funeral, people getting bagged and carted away) which would terrify the mind of one who is still learning to distinguish objective reality from the images on television and in movies. If you don't wish to take this advice blindly, then at least do yourself and your children the favor of going without them first and then deciding whether or not you want them to see it. I do concede my two mistakes in my review: Coleridge's poem is entitled "Kubla Khan", not "Tower of Kubla Khan" as I wrote. Also, yes, Terry Gilliam is American, and in fact, he was also responsible for much of the great animation we saw in the Monty Python television program and films. Please excuse my imperfect memory. Jim Campbell
pommert@uiucuxe.CSO.UIUC.EDU (02/04/86)
Was the US version of Brazil edited? The one I saw in Amsterdam had a happy ending until the end when you realized that it was just a dream. The US version hasn't come to my town yet and I dearly hope that Hollywood didn't candy it up to make it "palatable" to the American audience. Yes, it left a cloud over my emotions (even with Dutch subtitles and an intermission in the middle), but I LOVE movies that are substantial enough to play with my emotions. Let's hope the reply is a that Universal left it alone.
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (02/07/86)
> From: pommert@uiucuxe.CSO.UIUC.EDU > Was the US version of Brazil edited? ... The US version hasn't come to > my town yet and I dearly hope that Hollywood didn't candy it up to > make it "palatable" to the American audience. The endy was left intact -- Gilliam wouldn't have it any other way -- but I am led to believe that some parts were edited out. If you see the American version, I would be *very* interested in how it differs from the unedited version. -Doug Alan Nessus@Eddie.MIT.EDU ihnp4!mit-eddie!nessus
mcewan@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (02/13/86)
>> [Question about end of movie that reveals end of movie.] > [Response confirming information about end of movie.] Arrrrrrggggggggg!!! Haven't you people ever heard of a spoiler warning? If I hadn't already seen the movie this would have RUINED the ending for me. Scott McEwan {ihnp4,pur-ee}!uiucdcs!mcewan "What? That? It was just a filthy demon! It wasn't even from this dimension!"
grady@cad.UUCP (Steven Grady) (02/13/86)
>If you see the >American version, I would be *very* interested in how it differs from >the unedited version. > When Terry Gilliam spoke after the performance at Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium, he said that people who had seen both versions could not tell the difference between the two. All of the changes were simply cuts at the beginnings and ends of scenes, very minor editing which left the movie almost intact. Steven (...!ucbvax!grady)