Brazil (1985) on Netflix
A teleprinter bug sends an innocent man to interrogation. Bureaucrat Sam Lowry discovers the error and glimpses Jill Layton, the woman from his dreams, but the system blocks him.
- Netflix4.4/5
- IMDb7.8/10223,246 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes98%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a bureaucratic state, low-level government employee Sam Lowry escapes his tedious job through dreams of flying to rescue a damsel. A teleprinter bug misprints an arrest warrant, and an innocent cobbler, Archibald Buttle, is taken instead of the suspected terrorist Archibald Tuttle. Sam uncovers the error when the wrong bank account is charged. He visits Buttle's widow to return the money and glimpses her neighbor Jill Layton, a truck driver who resembles the woman from his dreams. Jill has been trying to report the wrongful arrest, but the authorities obstruct her, and she is now listed as Tuttle's accomplice. Sam wants to find her, but her records are classified. Only a promotion to Information Retrieval would grant him access. His well-connected mother Ida had arranged a promotion he refused; now he seeks to reverse that decision.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Brazil (1985)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Universal chairman Sid Sheinberg insisted on a re-edit to give the film a happy ending, and at one point two editing teams were working on it, one without Gilliam's knowledge; after a lengthy delay Gilliam took out a full-page ad in Variety urging Sheinberg to release Brazil in its intended version.
- Gilliam held private screenings of Brazil without the studio's approval for film schools and local critics, and on the night Universal's own contender Out of Africa premiered in New York, Brazil took Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Director from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, prompting Universal to release his version.
- Robert De Niro read the script and expressed interest in the role of Jack Lint, but Terry Gilliam had already promised the part to Michael Palin, a friend and regular collaborator.
- Katherine Helmond spent ten hours a day with a mask glued to her face during production, and her scenes had to be postponed because of the blisters this caused; the make-up was applied by Gilliam's wife.
- Despite its title, the film is not about the country Brazil and does not take place there; it is named after the recurrent theme song, Ary Barroso's "Aquarela do Brasil", performed in the film by Geoff Muldaur.
- Over the years the 14mm lens has become informally known among filmmakers as "The Gilliam", thanks to the director's frequent use of it ever since Brazil.
- Gilliam told Clive James in his online programme Talking in the Library that Brazil is, to his surprise, apparently a favorite film of the far right in America.
