Brazil

R

Now Playing

2 hr. 22 min.

Comedy

Fantasy

List

98%

55 Reviews

Tomatometer

90%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro), he meets the woman from his daydream (Kim Greist), and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

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Critics Consensus

Brazil, Terry Gilliam's visionary Orwellian fantasy, is an audacious dark comedy, filled with strange, imaginative visuals.

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Test T

I watched this on DVD recently and based on the reviews, my expectations were high, although ultimately misplaced. The problem was that the film consists mainly of poorly illuminated dark scenes, and because of this it is often difficult to see what is happening. There is no doubt that the film is imaginative, thought provoking and highly creative but in my opinion the onscreen experience is confusing and underwhelming. It's also far too long for comfort, and would benefit from losing at least 30 minutes, and an increased pace. In conclusion it needs a modern remake.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/24

Full Review

Kai K

If you want to watch a movie, watch 1984. Brazil is the very worst storytelling and storyline I have ever seen in any film. Honestly, if you were to skip 2 hours of exposition at the start you would have an identical experience. It is horrid at storytelling. However, this is the greatest film ever made when it comes to cinematography. The imagery used and the things expressed with it, especially in the concluding act/twist ending where it goes all out in imagery. This does not make up for a lack of story, no, and thus is why I chose to ignore a good chunk of the actual film itself, yet still it is the most artsy and interesting thing to look at. Maybe ever. Not listen to, or overly care for, but simply look at and ponder. A masterpiece? No. Career defining work? No. Still, one of the greatest displays in all of cinema? Yes. Worthy watching? Only the end. It's meh. But it does get you thinking. Even then, just go with 1984, it does the storytelling so much better.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/24

Full Review

Teddy B

Brilliant parody of 1984 whilst still remaining chilling in its own right. Terry Gilliam's uncomfortable style just absolutely makes this film complete and only elevates the brevity and wit of its screenplay and surreal visuals.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/01/24

Full Review

Maeve H

I'd never seen anything like this, when I saw it first. Couldn't take my eyes off it, for 2 hours. Tremendous. Watch it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/24

Full Review

Blu B

What's amazing is how this is just nonstop insane crazy stuff but yet it never feels off the rails and all of it makes sense which is a miracle. This has to be one of the most perfectly paced films I've ever seen in terms of every scene your mind is just blown because you never have seen something like what is on screen and you just wait in anticipation for what the next scene will have. LITERALLY every scene has something crazy or quirky about it and it's always different but all blends in. This is just off the walls creative and bizarre but never sacrificing telling a great story. Everything about it is masterful and original. It's defintely something you have to see more than once to fully appreciate. All Time Classic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/29/23

Full Review

David F

This looks like a film with something important to say, but the visual style, attitude, and characters are so eccentric and outside of any mainstream sort of filmmaking that it just felt a little bit too eccentric to bring it all together in an entertaining or enlightening way.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

Full Review

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Terry Gilliam

Director

Jonathan Pryce

Sam Lowry

Robert De Niro

Archibald "Harry" Tuttle

Katherine Helmond

Mrs. Ida Lowry

Ian Holm

Mr. M. Kurtzmann

Bob Hoskins

Spoor

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Brazil: Official Clip - Sam Is Captured

2:58

Brazil: Official Clip - I Love You

3:00

Brazil: Official Clip - The Moving Desk

2:58

Brazil: Official Clip - Plastic Surgery

1:50

Brazil: Official Clip - My Complication Had a Little Complication

1:35

Brazil: Official Clip - Harry Wastes Central Services

2:17

Brazil: Official Clip - Trust Me!

2:27

Brazil: Official Clip - Harry Tuttle, Heating Engineer

2:08

Brazil: Official Clip - A Receipt for Your Husband

2:37

Brazil: Official Clip - Central Services Pays a Visit

1:46

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

It's like a stoned, slapstick 1984: a nightmare comedy in which the comedy is just an aspect of the nightmarishness.

Jan 3, 2018

Full Review

Joe Morgenstern

Wall Street Journal

[A] darkly funny and truly visionary retro-futurist fantasy.

Mar 12, 2011

Full Review

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Brazil is a stinging, Strangelovian satire of the power of the bureaucracy in an Orwellian landscape.

Rated: 3/4

Oct 16, 2008

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Gilliam, with a finely tuned aesthetic, constructs it as an Orwellian, nightmarish satire, which always raises its dark tone when it interrogates the omnipotence of the bureaucratic State on the basis of a dystopia. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 8/10

Jan 20, 2024

Full Review

Paul Kanieski

KSQD Community Radio

From our post-9/11 viewpoint, Brazil’s biting social commentary comes across like an unheeded polemic against the slippery slope of surveillance and information gathering done in the name of national security.

Jul 24, 2023

Full Review

Howard Waldstein

CBR

What the film lacks in terms of a pandering narrative, it makes up for in lush backdrops, fantastic practical effects, and very real observations on surveillance states.

Jul 18, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro), he meets the woman from his daydream (Kim Greist), and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.

Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenwriter: Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown, Tom Stoppard
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 18, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.7M
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Surround, Dolby A
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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