Written By: Harper Woodin
The movie Brazil was something that honestly did in fact capture the attention of people.
Oftentimes, dystopian media is done very seriously and linearly when it comes to the themes and
tone, but this movie is the complete opposite. The movie itself is set in an almost comedic
version of something like the novel 1984, as the film starts with the wrongful arrest of an
innocent man who was mistaken for a terrorist. This eventually follows as the main characters
disrupt and interfere with government documents that show the absurdity of the system of which
they are under. This then leads him to Mrs. Buttle, the widow of the husband of which was killed
leading to another person named Jill who is searching for answers of a neighbor’s disappearance.
She is then labeled as a terrorist due to her being falsely associated to the terrorist of which the
government was finding. Transpiring after this, they slowly start to then deal with the oppressive
government as the main character Sam Lowry deals with his own escapism of a false reality with
it all happening within an apocalyptic setting set with. With this, he sees himself as something
more than he can truly be with him being depicted as a warrior fighting against creatures and
things that are metaphors for his desires or things that he is currently dealing with.
The world itself almost feels alive and chaotic with everything moving at once and the pacing of
the film being fast. While it may be hard to follow, and I had to eventually watch the film twice
to get everything, it really does just encapsulate you the whole time making you feel on edge.
But it does end up working in its favor due to the ending of the film. This makes an almost
dream like feeling with the whole thing helping towards the final minutes of the film, separating
from both the reality and dream sequences of what is real or not.
For the comedic aspects of the film, they do really encapsulate the absurdity of the world they
live in with very zoomed in big close shots being used as comedic big close effects with a lot of
high angle shots to really just create absurd perspectives that showcase the characters main
position. Not only this but the lighting for certain scenes also emphasizes this, with more key
lighting used to focus on the subject illuminating the absurdity. The dream like sequences as well
very much use lighting to their advantages either being very dark or bright depending on the
situation, he is putting himself into in his own visions. Dialogue itself as well gives noticeably
big implications but is also often used for comedy, with one example being when the main
character goes into a more mall court that is deliberately supposed to be a tease towards
consumerism. As the camera pans, it focuses on a kid and him sitting on Santa Claus with him
saying “I want a credit card.” This honestly is one example of the many very well-done scenes of
which gives context clues towards how the corporate influence goes to children. Everyone in this
universe is comedically incompetent, with people refusing to work or just pretending to with
work just being endless paperwork with no real meaning or purpose. This incompetence is due to
the overreliance of technology and because of not being properly maintained, it then leads to
illegal areas of unauthorized fixing from individuals.
Going back to how the movie is most remembered for, a lot of that is through things such as the
design choices of the film. The costume design and sets capture attention the most when
viewing. The director of the film Terry Gillian and production team leader Holly Gilliam had the
vision of a more surreal hyper mechanized ascetic towards costumes that primarily focuses on
the futuristic setting but also the incorporation of fashion with the satirical vision of the film. But
two characters, Sam and Harry Tuttle, display the two distinctive characteristics of individuals in
the movie. With Sam being the everyday man, he wears a suit that represents his office job
contrasting to the other people of which he goes by throughout the film. But with Tuttle being a
rouge heating agent, he looks much more disheveled compared to the legit handypeople seen
after his first appearance. This other contraction gives the sense of him being a vigilante that
repels against the government. In terms of production design, everything is complicated for the
sake of the people who made it, with one main example being the air ducts of which are not
hidden behind any walls and with everybody just adapting with that fact they are there, even
decorating them. Everything in the world is needlessly complicated for the sake of it just being
complicated with extraordinarily little care for the consumer who is using it. The props and or
devices they use also highlight this philosophy with monitors being so small they need
magnifying glasses to even see their own screens, mirrors being used to just watch tv from
certain places, or things such as alarms being needlessly complicated to just use and turn off.
Overall, this movie is one of a kind because in an age of which criticism is aggressive and social
commentary is oftentimes serious, this is one that still in my opinion gets all its own points
across. It is a movie that both warns and inspires its imagery, its story, and is a spectacle in all
fronts. The film is the showcase of not only multiple fronts including techniques and aspects of
cinema but the idea of social commentary, being a showcase of what can be different in the
medium to make it much more interesting. Movies especially in Hollywood even if it may not be
the focus oftentimes have a jab when it comes to consumerism and capitalism and sometimes
what’s been said has been said before, but what can differentiate that is how you say it and what
to you do to stand out and this in my opinion is the film that does this aspect perfectly in an
entertaining form for many to enjoy and get something out of.