Brazil

Brazil (1985)

Runtime: I saw both the original 142 minute film and a horrid 94 minute version, as I'll explain below

Directed by: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro

From: Universal, at least in the United States; that led to a rather brutal feud too complex to explain here

Or: Yikes, the “Love Conquers All” cut of the film is even worse than I suspected.

Before last night, this movie belonged in the forever-crowded field of “a film I had seen before, but not in a long time so that's why I never reviewed it here on Letterboxd” and I figured it was both time to see that again in its preferred cut and watch the infamous “Love Conquers All” version; both are included on the Criterion Blu, and I can say the picture for the movie is great. While something this idiosyncratic won't be for everyone (even some film fans) I am glad this eventually got released and seen in the way Terry Gilliam preferred. The movie has some flaws but that gives it personality and it isn't a big deal as the movie works despite (or perhaps) because it is so messy at points.

For me, it was chilling how more prescient this movie is now than when it was released over 30 years ago. Terrorism, fears of technology, the incompetence of bureaucracy due to in part there being too many layers... personally, it is more than a little bit frightening. The story is biting satire as you see sane man-relatively speaking-Sam Lowry in an insane world as incompetence results in him leaving his schlub lifestyle where he prefers to not be noticed to the point he turns down promotions at work... he ventures out from that and deals with a woman who literally is from his high fantasy dream and absurd situation after absurd situation comes his way.

The real highlight of the movie is the bizarre aesthetic of this near-future world; it is a grungy dreary world populated by gadgets that ironically make life less efficient for the user. The movie passes along much information visually and often there are things which are not critical to the plot yet if you notice them you get more of an idea of how totalitarian the world is... order is stressed and boy is it ever uncomfortable today in the United States to see phrases like “Be alert-some terrorists look normal”, “Suspicion breeds confidence”, and “Loose talk is noose talk” like are shown in this movie. That is part of what I meant when I used the word “chilling”. The fact that all those effects were done practically (most of them in camera, as a matter of fact) is still impressive in 2018.

Brazil is pretty weird so no surprise it would not be a commercial success (even for film fans it won't be for all tastes) but the way Universal treated this was pretty shameful and led to a nasty feud until a compromise 132 minute version was created. As the original 142 minute cut was released in other countries by other studios to success, Universal did not come out of this smelling like roses. Thankfully the movie can be seen properly, where many people have fallen in love with this unique piece of work and even if not everything went perfectly during shooting, that is OK. The cast as a whole does fine... Jonathan Pryce was perfect as the lead, and it was nice seeing familiar faces throughout. Now, apparently Gilliam did not like Kim Greist's performance as the dream girl Jill, which is why her role is not too extensive. To me, she was just inexperienced. You do see more of her in the much-reviled other version of the movie...

The 94 minute “Love Conquers All” version that Universal wanted to release instead (but never did on the big screen; it was just edited for content so it could air on commercial TV) was-as I said in the beginning-also included w/ the Criterion Blu and as I only knew of its rotten reputation, I figured I would finally see just how horrid it was. I was not prepared for how much it ruined the original. All the scenes taken out were bad enough, but some new material was included & it was not as good. Too much of the satire being excised is bad enough... the pacing and flow of the movie was completely ruined, AND the beginning and ending were both incredibly dumbed down.

Without going into detail and ruining things for those not having watched the film yet, he original ending is tremendous and is note-perfect for the film. The Love Conquers All ending not only makes zero logical sense, it craps on the main themes of Brazil. I feel awful for those having that be their virgin exposure to what is a great film. No wonder it is so reviled and Gilliam was appalled at the very idea of it being released. It's more than just some actors (like Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins and Derrick O'Connor) hardly being in the truncated version. That cut... as horrifying as it is to broach, I have no trouble imagining that being how a modern Hollywood remake of Brazil would go... it'd be massively disappointing. Let us all hope that day never comes. Even if it does, this movie will always be tremendous to me.