|
Volume CXXXIII, Number 8 |
 |
BFS brings Gilliam's bizarre Brazil
DAVIN MICHAELS
COLUMNIST
"Do you wake from you finest fantasy only to return to your daily nightmare? Is your mother about to look younger than you do?"
Flights of fantasy and the terror of reality come together when Monty Python meets Franz Kafka in Terry Gilliam's odd cult classic, Brazil (1985). This retro-futuristic film combines the monotony of daily life with all the intricacies of fine ductwork. If this all sounds a bit strange, it is.
Director Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame has created a dark comedy that takes the Big Brother concept of George Orwell's 1984 and carries it to its ludicrous extreme.
Brazil is about Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), a harried technocrat in a futuristic society that is needlessly convoluted and inefficient. He dreams of a life where he can fly away from technology and overpowering bureaucracy, and spend eternity with the woman of his dreams.
While trying to rectify the wrongful arrest of one Harry Buttle, Lowry meets the woman he is always chasing in his dreams, Jill Layton (Kim Greist).
Meanwhile, the bureaucracy has named him responsible for a rash of terrorist bombings, and both Sam and Jill's lives are put in danger. Highlights include Robert DeNiro as a renegade air-conditioner repairman.
The Bowdoin Film Society says that if it's going to be a crazy weekend, complete the definition of crazy with this mind-blowing, satirically creative and funny film.
Hailed as one of the most cryptically brilliant films ever made, Brazil has an Oscar-nominated script (partially written by Tom Stoppard) that bites hard and pokes fun at just about everything.
For all Monty Python lovers this is a real treat but an equally enjoyable film for all those able to stretch their minds a bit. Brazil will be playing on tonight and tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. in Smith Auditorium in Sills Hall and is free for all Bowdoin community members.
|
FastCounter by bCentral |