We knew we were in for some weirdness when watching Brazil since weirdness is sort of a prerequisite for a Terry Gilliam film. We were not wrong. This futuristic vision of a world under constant surveillance and terror was a bit overwhelming. With an impressive cast that includes the likes of Jonathan Pryce, Robert DeNiro, and Michael Palin, insane sets and costumes, and quite a bit of physicality, it's almost an overload for the senses. Underneath all of that madness, the message comes through clearly, though. It pretty much boils down to the fact that it is so easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore social injustice until it's literally pounding down your door, or in the case of this movie, cutting a hole in your ceiling and descending upon you.
The visuals basically make this movie. Everything is run by weird computers that are relied upon to take care of everything, but when one tiny mistake is made, complete chaos ensues. Those who are above it all ignore them and go about their shallow, materialistic lives, but there are others who take a stand and they are the ones who get screwed by the system. Even though it's presented in an absurd, over-the-top manner, the truth is that society isn't all that far off. There's also a romantic angle that takes up way too much of the plot. It makes sense that it's the motivating factor for Sam to rage against the machine, but it's more annoying that anything.
Overall we enjoyed it but agreed that it felt really dated, and not in a good way. Brandon's main issue was that the tone may have been a bit too whimsical for the subject matter. He said it was like"Monty Python trying to do a serious movie with heavy social commentary." My problem was that it was really long and FELT really long.
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