Brazil - Is it good?

[Yonathan Gal]

On TV tonight, and I know the criterion disk is popular. Is it good or not? :) Cheers... and who is in it? Thanks!

[vauxmad]

I was going to post a similar thread to this aswell!

Think im gonna tape it and watch the Twin Peaks marathon on Channel 5

[Yonathan Gal]

we haven't got chanel 5 down here in the south :( i'll watch holy grail tonight, and if i'm not too tired, then brazil as well, if not, i'll record it :)

[DeadKenny]

If it's the director's cut or approved versions then yes. If it's the butchered "Love Conquers All" version (i.e. studio impossed happy ending amongst many other edits) then no.

Being BBC2 I'd guess it's the directors version (the directors cut has a few scenes re-instated, but even if it's the shorter version it's still worth it, but not if it's the studio edit which is ruined completely)

Details http://us.imdb.com/Title?0088846

8 out of 10, and 137 out of the top 250 ever, can't be bad :D

The Criterion 3-disc set is exellent by the way (though receives a thumbs down in a minor way for being non-anamorphic). Includes the directors cut as well as the studio cut, the latter complete with commentary illustrating just how editing can ruin a film - fasinating (plus a 3rd disc full of extras).

[vauxmad]

on digiguide it says the running time is 2hrs 20m so which version is that?

[DeadKenny]

Originally posted by vauxmad
on digiguide it says the running time is 2hrs 20m so which version is that?

The 'Final Directors Cut' by the looks of it. Should be 142 mins according to IMDB, less a bit for the PAL conversion. The shorter directors approved version is 132 mins.

What's showing right now isn't the studio-edit anyway.

[pythons]

Originally posted by Yonathan Gal
we haven't got chanel 5 down here in the south :(

Well we have if you've got cable! hehe ;)

[Yonathan Gal]

Yeah but with normal terresrial we haven't :(

[Madm@tt]

But on Sky digital we have! - I thought the film was very good, but not perfect... 7/10

[Yonathan Gal]

I recorded it and watched the first ha;f this morning. It's really wierd!! Is it supposed to be a comedy? I'll be watching rhe seocnd half later on.

[dms]

is it a comedy?

i watched it as a kid on telly years ago... i thought it was wonderful but really scary and unnerving

saw it in teh cinema a couple of years ago.. thought it was wondeful and realy funny ;-)

probably depends on how cynical u are !

[Gary Couzens]

The 142-minute version is the only one to be shown in the UK. I have vivid memories of seeing it at the Odeon Leicester Square over Christmas 1984/5.

[robbiejm]

Originally posted by Yonathan Gal
I recorded it and watched the first ha;f this morning. It's really wierd!! Is it supposed to be a comedy? I'll be watching rhe seocnd half later on.

'It's really weird' is an understatement lol, it was obviously written and directed by Gilliam when he was off his face on one drug or another, and the result is a self-indulgent mess of a film, best summed up by these two smilies:

:nuts: http://pages.zoom.co.uk/robs/smileys/asleep.gif

[Dan Druff]

Actually Gilliam was planning to make Brazil for about 10 years, it was always on his mind, and refined in his mind.
The first time I saw this I hated it. I watched it again a week later, then went out and bought it on VHS. Now I have it on DVD. It is a superb movie, pure Gilliam. Twisted fantasy, brilliant dream sequences, excellent performances (especially Jonathan Pryce) and intoxicating use of the Brazil theme, the representation of an escape to a better place. 10/10

[Vinyl-Pants]

I thought it was a good film but not good enough to own on DVD. I wouldve thought the "amazing" 3 disc criterion treatment would be better suited to another movie.

As a De Niro fan I thought he was woefully under-used.

7/10...although I wouldnt mind watching it again.

[TARKUS]

Sorry, I can not agree with "Vinyl-Pants" because the film is one my personal all time faves (10/10 !!!)

I am still hoping that there will be a rc2-dvd-version (like the superb Criterion-Box).

[Dagada]

The Criterion edition is region 0, by the way......

I love the film - Gilliam is one of the few directors out there who actually has an imagination and refuses to submit to studio pressure to make things more commercial. More power to him!

[DeadKenny]

Black-comedy it's described as. Generally taking the **** out of bureaucracy, though it's about more than that but that's the comedy element.

There's a Brazil FAQ somewhere I read years ago which said that it forms part of a trilogy of 'dreams/fantasy' films.

i.e.:

1. Time Bandits - fantasy of a kid
2. Brazil - fantasy (and/or 'dreaming') of working man
3. Adventures of Baron Munchausen - deranged fantasy of an old man.

Obviously a lot more to them than that, but that's the rough description. You could consider The Fisher King to be in the same vein too, and others (12 Monkeys messing with questions of 'reality' in a similar way to Fisher King and Fear and Lothing in Las Vegas... well, err, just insane :nuts: ).