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| Jonathan
Pryce, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Robert de Niro, Bob Hoskins, Ian Holm,
Katherine Helmond |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Arresting officer: This
is your receipt for your husband... and this is my receipt for
your
receipt.
A
civil servant somewhere in the 20th Century dreams of defying the bureaucratic
institutions.
 Brazil
is a movie that forces you to take sides. It is sure to annoy many,
infuriate some, and delight others, but I would say it's impossible
not to have a strong opinion about it. As you can tell by the
rating I have given it, I am definitely an admirer, and would urge people
to at least give it a shot. Which is not to say that it is a flawless
film. It goes on too long, it's noisy, it's brilliant, it never lets
up, it's visionary, it's an assault on the senses, it's uneven, it's
a masterpiece, it's depressing, it's uplifting... Everything anyone
has said about Brazil is probably true from one perspective or
another.
As for myself, I have found that I get more and more out of it as I
watch it more often. I find it endlessly fascinating, not in spite of,
but for a large part because of its flaws. Gilliam is so uncompromizing
here, so passionate about including every little bit of vision and humor
and idea that he can into one film, it's just about impossible to take
it all in at once. |
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There
are two Region 1 releases of this film: one
from Universal Home Video with nothing but the film and the
theatrical
trailer, and
a Criterion Special Edition consisting of 3 DVDs loaded with supplements
(but neither of these boasts anamorphic enhancement).
More recently, a Region 2 release has appeared, with few
extras but a solid anamorphic transfer. This version carries
the European cut of the film, which has a few very slight
differences from the director's cut featured on the Criterion
release. The Criterion version served as the basis for this
review.
The
image is non-anamorphic and letterboxed at 1.85:1. The colors are strong
and the picture is generally just worlds apart from the VHS release
or any TV version I have seen. There are some blemishes and marks on
the print it was taken from, but they are minor.
The soundtrack is a
Dolby 2.0 Surround track with no discrete surround channels. The sound
is fine though it would have been sooooo much nicer to see this film
on an anamorphic DVD with 5.1 sound....
Brazil
is the mother of all special edition DVDs. I have never seen a special
edition done with such uniform excellence as this one. The first disc
in the 3-disc set has the director's cut of the film with a fascinating
audio commentary from director Terry Gilliam. He is eloquent, funny
and informative regarding all aspects of the film and its production
history.
Disc 2 might have been called Everything you always wanted to know
about Brazil but were afraid to ask. Every single aspect of the
film and its history is given a full section of information consisting
of text, photos, drawings and audiovisual material. Script development,
costume design, location scouting, it's all here. And the great thing
they pulled off is, it leaves you wanting more! Unlike some other DVD's,
where the extra material leaves you tired and suspecting you just learned
more than you wanted to know (like The Thing and The Abyss),
the editors have made a great selection of interesting material that
keeps you going and going... until you realize it's almost morning and
you're still reading script revisions!!... It also includes an hour-long
documentary on the fight between Gilliam and Universal that occurred
when they wouldn't release it if he wouldn't make drastic changes to
it. Also an outstanding documentary.
The third disc finally reveals the studio version of the film, with
a happy ending and close to 50 minutes excised. It is astounding to
watch, and is accompanied by an excellent audio commentary from a leading
Gilliam expert. The
DVD menus are certainly up to Criterion's usual high standard of excellence,
with subtle animation and sounds in the background and a visual design
that echoes that of the film and its themes.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Brazil.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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