Brazil
2 Oscar Nominations
Rent/Purchase
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.
What critics thought
Brazil is nearly universally celebrated as one of the great political satires in cinema history, with Gilliam's dystopian vision and its blackly comic imagination earning comparisons to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. The lone significant dissent at the time came from Roger Ebert, who found the film undisciplined and difficult to follow — a minority view that has only grown more isolated as the film's reputation has solidified across decades of best-of lists.
“Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“the most potent piece of satiric political cinema since Dr. Strangelove”
Kenneth Turan·Los Angeles Times
“a daring, exorbitant Vision, sombrely funny and darkly true”
Colin Greenland·Imagine
“awash in elaborate special effects, sensational sets, apocalyptic scenes of destruction and a general lack of discipline”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorTerry Gilliam
StarringJonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins
ComposerMichael Kamen
Brazil
2 Oscar Nominations
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.
What critics thought
Brazil is nearly universally celebrated as one of the great political satires in cinema history, with Gilliam's dystopian vision and its blackly comic imagination earning comparisons to Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. The lone significant dissent at the time came from Roger Ebert, who found the film undisciplined and difficult to follow — a minority view that has only grown more isolated as the film's reputation has solidified across decades of best-of lists.
“Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones.”
Janet Maslin·The New York Times
“the most potent piece of satiric political cinema since Dr. Strangelove”
Kenneth Turan·Los Angeles Times
“a daring, exorbitant Vision, sombrely funny and darkly true”
Colin Greenland·Imagine
“awash in elaborate special effects, sensational sets, apocalyptic scenes of destruction and a general lack of discipline”
Roger Ebert·Chicago Sun-Times
Genres
Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Cast & Crew
DirectorTerry Gilliam
StarringJonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins
ComposerMichael Kamen
Rent/Purchase