BRAZIL (DVD) (SINGLE DISC/16X9) DVD

Brazil
Brazil constitutes Terry Gilliam's enormously ambitious follow-up to his 1981 Time Bandits. It also represents the second installment in a trilogy of Gilliam films on imagination versus reality, that began with Bandits and ended in 1989 with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. To create this wild, visually audacious satire, Gilliam combines dystopian elements from Orwell, Huxley and Kafka (plus a central character who mirrors Walter Mitty) with his own trademark, Monty Python-esque, jet black British humor and his gift for extraordinary visual invention. The results are thoroughly unprecedented in the cinema. Jonathan Pryce stars as Sam Lowry, a civil servant who chooses to blind himself to the decaying, drone-like world around him. It's a world marred by oppressive automatization and towering bureaucracy, and populated by tyrannical guards who strongarm lawbreakers. And Lowry is stuck in the middle of this nightmare. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes (to the tune of Ary Baroso's 1930s hit "Brazil") about sailing through the clouds as a winged superhero, and rescuing beautiful Jill Layton (Kim Greist) from a giant, Samurai warrior. The omnipresent computer that controls everything in the "real" world malfunctions, causing an innocent citizen to be arrested and tortured to death. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets - and pursues Jill , literally the girl of his dreams. But in real life, she's a tough-as-nails truck driver who initially wants nothing to do with him. It turns out that she is suspected of underground activities, in connection with a terrorist network wanted for bombing public places. The price Sam pays for his association with her is a close encounter with the man in charge of torturing troublesome citizens (Michael Palin). He is rescued - at the last minute - by maintenance man Harry Tuttle (Robert de Niro) who moonlights as a terrorist, but that only represents the beginning of his plight, for now the "system" is onto him. Gilliam ran into enormous problems with Brazil. Universal - which produced the picture - originally slated it for release in 1984, but the studio - intimidated by the film's whopping length of 142 minutes - demanded that Gilliam trim the film to bring it in under two hours and alter the pessimistic ending. Gilliam refused; Universal shelved the picture for a year. In response, the director took out a full page ad in Variety asking studio president Sid Sheinberg when the film would be released. Sensing tremendous pressure, Universal bowed to Gilliam's insistence on fewer cuts but still demanded a happy ending. Gilliam trimmed only eleven minutes and altered the conclusion just slightly (instead of cutting to black, it fades into puffy white clouds on a blue sky, with a reprise of the title tune). It was thus released in early 1985 at 131 minutes, and of course became a seminal work; many critics regarded it at the time as the best film of the eighties. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Cast Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry Michael Palin as Jack Lint Kim Greist as Jill Layton Robert De Niro as Harry Tuttle Katherine Helmond as Ida Lowrey Ian Holm as Kurtzman Ian Richardson as Warren Peter Vaughan as Helpmann Bob Hoskins as Spoor Derrick O'Connor as Dowser Charles McKeown as Lime Barbara Hicks as Mrs. Terrian Kathryn Pogson as Shirley Jim Broadbent as Dr. Jaffe Jack Purvis as Dr. Chapman Bryan Pringle as Spiro Sheila Reid as Mrs. Buttle

Crew John Beard - Art Director Keith Pain - Art Director Irene Lamb - Casting Patrick Cassavetti - Co-producer James Acheson - Costume Designer Terry Gilliam - Director Julian Doyle - Editor Walter Scharf - Composer (Music Score) Michael Kamen - Composer (Music Score) Maggie Weston - Makeup Aaron Sherman - Makeup Norman Garwood - Production Designer Roger Pratt - Cinematographer Graham Ford - Production Manager Robert North - Producer Arnon Milchan - Producer Maggie Gray - Set Designer George Gibbs - Special Effects Richard Conway - Special Effects Bill Weston - Stunts Tip Tipping - Stunts Tom Stoppard - Screenwriter Frank Gill, Jr. - Screenwriter Charles McKeown - Screenwriter Terry Gilliam - Screenwriter Laura Kerr - Screenwriter

Brazil
Director Terry Gilliam's comic fantasy-nightmare portrays a future in which Big Brother is definitely watching. The film suggests no particular time, boasting a retro style that gives it an ominous timelessness. Like Ridley Scott's Blade Runner or Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, Brazil succeeds precisely because it presents a grimy future with real similarities to the present, where technology and efficiency lead to more, not less, government interference and bureaucracy. Brazil also adds an element of comedy to the mix; some of the zaniest scenes involve Robert DeNiro, playing against type as the hilarious terrorist Harry Tuttle. Visually, the film is a near-psychedelic wonder, with such indelible images as the bleak metropolis that launches from the ground, disrupting the idyllic dreams of unlikely hero Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce). To say Gilliam pulled out all the stops is an understatement -- it seems that every image that popped into his head has found its way into the film. Brazil was criticized by some for going too far, and this lack of restraint does extend to the sometimes hard-to-follow plot. But a little incoherence is a relatively small price to pay for what is otherwise a startlingly imaginative work. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
 

Charles McKeown: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Charles McKeown: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Screenplay (winner) Maggie Gray: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Norman Garwood: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Art Direction (nominated) Terry Gilliam: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Terry Gilliam: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Director (winner) Terry Gilliam: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Screenplay (winner) Tom Stoppard: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Tom Stoppard: Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Screenplay (winner)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association, Best Picture (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD2: Dolby Digital Stereo DDS2.0: Dolby Digital w/ 4 channels of sound from a 2-channel stereo mix. Additional Features: All new, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terry Gilliam, with a remastered Dolby stereo surround soundtrack Audio commentary by Gilliam Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Plus: An essay by Jack Mathews DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1: Alternate Wide Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 142 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- The Criterion Collection: Brazil 1. Logos [:28] 2. 8:49 p.m., Somewhere in the Twentieth Century [3:18] 3. "That is Your Receipt for Your Husband" [3:43] 4. Department of Records [2:32] 5. Dreams and Reality [2:29] 6. The Truth Shall Make You Free; "I Want to Report a Wrongful Arrest" [3:16] 7. Suspicion Breeds Confidence; Mother Pulling Strings [2:43] 8. Bon Appétit! [5:22] 9. "Thank You for Calling Central Services..." [2:24] 10. "Harry Tuttle, Heating Engineer, at Your Service" [4:29] 11. 27B-6 [3:43] 12. Buttle's Refund Check [5:24] 13. Happiness, We're All in It Together [7:32] 14. "I Don't Know What I Want" [4:27] 15. "You've 'ad That Scab Tuttle in 'ere, Ain'tcha?" [1:58] 16. Samurai Battle [3:31] 17. An Invitation From Mother [1:33] 18. "Snip, Snip, Slice, Slice" [4:30] 19. "'Ere I am, J.H." [2:22] 20. Information Retrieval [3:52] 21. DZ-015, the New Boy Next Door [5:44] 22. Who Can You Trust? Freelance Subversion [6:22] 23. Lift out of Order [4:44] 24. "I've Been Dreaming About You" [5:08] 25. No Sense of Reality [5:48] 26. Romantic Lingerie [4:00] 27. "An Empty Desk is an Efficient Desk" [5:27] 28. Unnecessary Repairs [3:57] 29. Rescuing Jill [6:37] 30. "Care for a Little Necrophilia?" [3:45] 31. Wasting Ministry Time and Paper [3:47] 32. "Don't Fight It, Son" [6:29] 33. Keep Your City Tidy [2:08] 34. "Mr. Lowry, So Pleased You Could Make It" [5:27] 35. End Credits [4:01] 36. Color Bars [:01] 1. Welcome [:28] 2. "Why is It Called Brazil?" [3:18] 3. The Buttle House [3:43] 4. Favorite Tracking Shot [2:32] 5. The Flying Sequence [2:29] 6. The Ministry Set [3:16] 7. Researching Brazil [2:43] 8. Shoe Hats and Food Pictures [5:22] 9. An Elaborate Labyrinth [2:24] 10. De Niro's Bit Part [4:29] 11. Tweedledee and Tweedledum [3:43] 12. Billing People for Their Torture [5:24] 13. A Turning Point [7:32] 14. "Two Halves of a Whole Personality" [4:27] 15. "Inefficiency Masquerading as Order" [1:58] 16. Sam's Dreams [3:31] 17. Pure Silliness and Going Too Far [1:33] 18. Logic and Mood [4:30] 19. Mr. Helpmann: The Crippled Leader [2:22] 20. The World of Shadows [3:52] 21. Office Workers Love This Movie [5:44] 22. The Corridor Upstairs [6:22] 23. Ray Cooper and Michael Kamen [4:44] 24. The Sam Lowry Character [5:08] 25. Rubber Suits and Model Shots [5:48] 26. "My Original Idea for the Film..." [4:00] 27. Talking Evil With George Lucas [5:27] 28. Invasion of Sam's Flat [3:57] 29. Gilliam's Background [6:37] 30. The Trick to Filmmaking [3:45] 31. Two Deleted Scenes [3:47] 32. Shooting in the Water Tower [6:29] 33. The Shopping Center [2:08] 34. The Felliniesque Funeral [5:27] 35. American and European Endings [4:01] 36. Color Bars [:01]