Brazil
Directed by: Terry Gilliam 2 hours, 22 minutes UK 1985 Color Blu-ray 1.85:1
Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins
When I first saw Brazil as a teenager I described it to my friends as being “like 1984 with a sense of humor”. That was before I reread 1984 and realized how funny it was, but I think the description still holds up pretty well. Jonathan Pryce in his pre only-playing-villains days stars as Sam Lowry, an everyman caught up in a surreal bureaucratic nightmare, and when a (literal) bug in the works causes a typo that leads to an innocent man being detained, he sets out to fix the situation, only to fall further into an absurd quagmire of paperwork and regulations. He dreams of escape, soaring above the metropolis in a metal flying suit reminiscent of, well, Metropolis. In his escape he slays clockwork samurai and rescues the same girl every night. Sam visits a(nother) government ministry and sees this girl of his dreams, who is trying to free the same innocent man. But she might be a terrorist. And Sam might be crazy. Brazil is the essential Terry Gilliam film, and the one where he lays out the ideas and worldview he’ll revisit for the rest of his career.