I thought I had done acid, but it turned out to be "Brazil"
I saw the movie "Brazil" tonight on TV while I was doing some light work. Needless to say, it's very confusing, and I'm not sure whether I liked it or not. I will say, though, that "Blade Runner," which came out several years earlier, did a much better job at achieving the cartoony, cold, futuristic look. Visually, "Brazil" comes off as a cheap, yet distinctly British rip-off of "Blade Runner."
I am in the garage now making an armored bird-suit. I plan to go back in time and wear it to Queen concerts.
I am in the garage now making an armored bird-suit. I plan to go back in time and wear it to Queen concerts.
Comments
It's basically the Statism of 1984, except done willingly, with consumerism and narcisism as much the culprit as the crush for power. It was a cold war movie, and made a lot of points about the hideous nature of Statism when Time magazine was still trying to convince us that the USSR was a workers paradise becuase that had universal healthcare.
The key to the movie is--kinda/sorta like Repo Man -- that everyone is OBLIVIOUS to the bombs, the tubing that is everywhere, the fact that a clerical error resulted in a man being TORTURED TO DEATH. etc. Nothing works, it's all cheap crap, from the way the phone system "works", to the automated breakfast machine, and the old-timie workstations, that have the operator peering through a cheap magnifying glass to look at a tiny monitor. The way that Micheal Palin brings his daughter to work -- the irony is way past the point of parody. The whole system is completely out of control -- and nobody cares.
The only one who notices literally goes insane. The only question is, at what point does he loose it?
(Make sure you have the directors cut, the one in wide realase has a "happy" ending IIRC)
Bladerunner was bascially allegory for the life and death of man. Roy is 'unhappy' with his mortality, and through a series of events in which he rebels, then actually kills his creator in a quest to change the rules of life and death. In end he comes to terms with the fact that he is mortal, and redeems himself with a final act of selflessness -- note the nail through his hand when he pulls Deckard up from the precipice. Pretty neat stuff.
The version I saw was definitely the directors cut. The ending is pretty miserable. I will complain about the movies, though, that it could use some slightly better transitioning. It's clear that the goal was to blur reality and non-reality, and to deliver a somewhat non-linear plot the whole time, but I feel like I have to watch it twice just to pick up necessary details, and I don't want to do that right away due to the visceral nature of the visuals.
Originally posted by Splinemodel
I'm aware that the two movies make very different points. I grouped them together because they entertain a future that is visually similar.
The version I saw was definitely the directors cut. The ending is pretty miserable. I will complain about the movies, though, that it could use some slightly better transitioning. It's clear that the goal was to blur reality and non-reality, and to deliver a somewhat non-linear plot the whole time, but I feel like I have to watch it twice just to pick up necessary details, and I don't want to do that right away due to the visceral nature of the visuals.
ONLY twice?
I'd say that it takes half a dozen viewings of Brazil to start being able to step back from the despair and look at the parody and irony. Brazil's color scheme seems anemic -- I think it's intentional. Brazil is as saturated with irony as Bladerunner is visually -- the details -- everything in Brazil -- the set decoration, props are intentionally communicating that nasty, drab existence. I don't think there is a wasted frame in the whole movie.