Writing the Rules in the Film, Brazil

Terry Gilliam’s dystopian film, Brazil (1985), lays out a visually stunning and ultimately sinister depiction of a future society hounded by an oppressive government’s desire for absolute control over the population. Of elementary focus in the film are the roles of technology and the subsequent dehumanization of the modern world and the myth of the “free man” under a totalitarian regime. Gilliam shows our current obsession with technology and information as an exasperating evolution of modernity that is, ultimately, leading us nowhere. Repeatedly, we see the shortcomings of a society that is overly reliant upon systematic response (as displayed by the constant demands for paperwork) and completely lacking in individualism and expression (as shown by the massive, colorless, unadorned structures that compose this future world.) While Gilliam’s film never really resolves any of these issues, his examination of them is thorough enough to merit further discussion.

Gilliam portrays technology throughout the film as a comical arrangement of Rube Goldberg devices; while everyone relies on it, is ultimately nothing more than a nuisance. Of immediate notice is the ductwork, streaming awkwardly through peoples homes and workspaces, imparting a distinctly industrial mood to every scene. It is a prime example of modern technology carried to absurd length. It causes trouble multiple times during the film, from the overheating and subsequent hyper-cooling of the protagonist’s (Sam Lowry’s) apartment to the bursting forth of documents at his workplace from a clogged tube. These breakdowns result in more inconvenience as bumbling public-works employees arrive causing further destruction of the ductwork and requiring frivolous filing of paperwork...

... middle of paper ...

...an regime. This, however, proves to be one final hallucination that pushes Lowry to the point where he is catatonic. In a society of such tight regulation and surveillance, the ‘free man’ is simply a myth and the only ‘freedom’ attainable is that offered by their own delusions.

Brazil creates and examines a world where certain current trends, such as technology, surveillance, and regulation, have been extended to absurd extremes. Perhaps Gilliam is attempting to give a wag of the finger to modern society, begging us to be wary of our desires for ‘progress’ and to value our freedom and hang on to it at any cost. He suggests that our world may be headed for a fate similar to that of Sisyphus, doomed forever to push the rock of technology up the hill simply so that it may roll back upon us. We must be careful not to trap ourselves within our own rules and regulations.