Brazil [1985]

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1985
Running Times: 131 mins [USA] 142 mins [UK - director's cut]
Format: Technicolor 35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: Dolby

PRODUCTION
Production Companies: Embassy / Universal
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Co-Producer Patrick Cassavetti
Production Manager: Graham Ford
French Production Manager: Chantal Perrin-Cluzet
Unit Manager: Linda Bruce
Production Co-Ordinator: Margaret Adams

SCRIPT
Script: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles Mckeown

DIRECTION
Director: Terry Gilliam
Assistant Director: Guy Travers
2nd Assistant Director: Chris Thompson
3rd Assistant Director: Richard Coleman
Additional Assistant Directors: Christopher Newman, Terence Fitch, Kevin Westley

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director Of Photography: Roger Pratt
Camera Operator: David Garfath
Assistant Camera: John Ignatius
Additional Assistant Camera: Brian Herlihy, Steve Parker
Follow Focus: Bob Stilwell
Clapper Leader: Simon Fulford
Camera Grip: Peter Butler
Grip: Porky Rivers
Grip [France]: Jean-Yves Freess
Gaffer: Roy Rodhouse
Best Boys: Chuck Finch, Brian Martin
Clapper Loader: Mark Cridlin
Video Consultant: Ira Curtis Coleman
Chief Electrician [France]: Jean-Claude LeBras
Electricians: Perry Evans, Alan Grosch, Les Rodhouse, Brian Sullivan, Toby Tyler, George White
Rigger Supervisor: Dave Wiggins
Stills Photographer: David Appleby
Grip and Lighting Equipment: Lee Electric [Lighting] Ltd
Cameras: J-D-C Cameras

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Julian Doyle
Assistant Editors: Keith Lowes, Peter Compton, Margarita Doyle, Cilla Beirne, Roya Salari
Post Production Assistant: Sally Kinnes

MUSIC
Music: Michael Kamen
Music Performed By: The National Philharmonic Orchestra
Song: Ary Barroso, S.K. Russel [Brazil]
Song Performed By: Geoff and Maria Muldaur
Music Co-Ordinator: Ray Cooper
Music Recording: Eric Tomlinson
Additional Music Recording: Andy Jackson
Music Recorded At: Abbey Road Studios

SOUND
Sound Recordist: Bob Doyle
Sound Re-Recording: Roger Cherill Ltd
Re-Recording Mixer: Paul Carr
Sound Editor: Rodney Glenn
Boom Operator: Rosie Straker
Footsteps Editor: Barry McCormick

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Hair & Make-Up Designer: Maggie Weston
Make-Up and Hair: Elaine Carew, Sallie Evans, Sandra Sheperd, Meinir Brock
Costume Designer: James Acheson
Assistant Costume Designer: Gilly Hebden
Costumes: Martin Adams, Vin Burnham, Jamie Courtier, Annie Hadley, Ray Scott
Wardrobe Supervisor: Joyce Stoneman
Wardrobe Mistress: Jean Fairlie
Wardrobe Master: Frank Vinall
Wardrobe Assistants: Anthony Black, Colin Wilson

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Prosthetic Make-Up: Aaron Sherman

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects Supervisor: George Gibbs
2nd Unit Effects Director: Julien Doyle
Model Effects Supervisor: Richard Conway
Models and Effects Photography: Roger Pratt, Julian Doyle, Tim Spence
Model Maker: Valerie Charlton
Modeler: Keith Short
Dreams and Models Construction Manager: Bill McMinimee
Optical Effects And Titles: Peerless Camera Co Ltd
Matte Artist: Ray Caple

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Norman Garwood
Art Directors: John Beard, Keith Pain, Dennis Bosher
Assistant Art Director: Dennis Bosher
French Assistant Art Director: Françoise Benoît
Set Dressing Designer: Maggie Gray
Prop Masters: George Ball, Gary Dawson
Prop Men: Michael Bacon, Gordon Billings, Peter Wallis
Production Buyer: Belinda Edwards
Stand-By Props: Peter Benson
Stand-By Prop Chargehand: Denis Hopperton
Dressing Prop Chargehand: Stan Cook
Construction Manager: Peter Verard
Assistant Construction Manager: Craig Hillier
Supervising Carpenters: Lee Apsey, Tom Davies
Chargehand Carpenter: Dennis Bovington
Construction Stand-Bys: Alan Grenham, Stephen Hargreaves, Richard Harris, Brian Higgins, David Jones, Iain Lowe, John Martin, Colin Osgood, Barry Vine, Bob Voisey, Dennis Wraight, John Wright
Painter Supervisor: Michael Jones
Chargehand Painter: Ken Welland
Plasterer Supervisors: Stephen Tranfield, David Wicks
Chargehand Plasterer: John Murphy
Drapes: Ron Cowan
Draughtsmen: Tony Rimmington, Stephen Bream
Sign Writer: Tony Cain
Art Department Assistant: John Frankish
Scenic Artist: Andrew Lawson
Graphic Artists: Dave Scutt, Bernard Allum
Art Department Research: Christine Vincent
Art Department Assistant: John Frankish
Title Designer: Nick Dunlop, Kent Houston, Neil Sharp, Tim Ollive, Richard Morrison

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Penny Eyles
Trainee Continuity: Melanie Matthews
'Forces Of Darkness' Arranged And Performed: Mark Holmes, With Lyn Brotchie, Janet Hamson, Judith Morse, Jo Phillips, Connie Thomas, Sue Hodge, NoËL Butler
The 'Expediters' Choreographed By: Heather Seymour, With Christopher Barr, Ray Hatfield, Paul Hillier, Saul Jephcott, Colin Stepney, David Straun, Paul Waller, Rojer Whieldon
Production Accountant: Terry Connors
Assistant Accountant: Lesley Broderick
Cashier: Judith May
Production Runners: Laurence Bodini, Matthew Scudamore
Worst Boy: Sidney Sheinberg
Publicists: Alan Arnold, Geoff Freeman
Publicity Liason: Lisa Weston, S.B. International Ltd
Special Vehicles and Props: D.C.A Design
Secretary: Katy Radford

LOCATIONS
Locations: Croydon Power Station, Croydon, England, UK [Ministry of Information basement]; Cumbria, England, UK; Docklands, London, England, UK [clerk's pool]; Leighton's House, England, UK [Dr Jaffe's surgery room]; Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, UK [restaurant]; The Liberal Club, London, UK [Sam's mother's apartment]; Lee International Film Studios, Wembley, England, UK; Marne-La-Vallée, France [Sam's apartment building; truck chase sequence]
Location Manager [France]: Yves Duteil
Location Research: Hamish Scott

STUNTS
Stunt Arranger: Bill Weston
Samurai Fight Arranger: Bill Hobbs

CASTING
Casting Director: Irene Lamb
Casting Director [USA]: Margery Simkin

CAST
Jonathan Pryce [Sam Lowry]
Robert Deniro [Archibald 'Harry' Tuttle]
Katherine Helmond [Mrs Ida Lowry]
Ian Holm [Mr Kurtzman]
Bob Hoskins [Spoor]
Michael Palin [Jack Lint]
Ian Richardson [Mr Warren]
Peter Vaughan [Mr Helpman]
Kim Greist [Jill Layton]
Jim Broadbent [Dr Jaffe]
Charles Mckeown [Lime]
Barbara Hicks [Mrs Terrain]
Derrick O'conner [Dowser]
Kathryn Pogson [Shirley]
Bryan Pringle [Spiro]
Sheila Reid [Mrs Buttle]
John Flanagan [TV interviewer / salesman]
Ray Cooper [technician]
Brian Miller [Mr Buttle]
Simon Nash [boy Buttle]
Prudence Oliver [girl Buttle]
Simon Jones [arrest official]
Derek Deadman [Bill - Dept of Works]
Nigel Planer [Charlie - Dept of Works]
Terence Bayler [TV commercial presenter]
Gordon Kaye [M.O.I. lobby porter]
Tony Portacio [neighbour in clerk's pool]
Bill Wallis [bespectacled lurker]
Winston Dennis [samurai warrior]
Toby Clark [small Sam double]
Diana Martin [telegram girl]
Jack Purvis [Dr Chapman]
Elisabeth Spender [Alison / 'Barbara' Lint]
Antony Brown [Porter - Information Retrieval]
Myrtle Devenish [typist In Jack's office]
Holly Gilliam [Holly Lint]
John Pierce Jones [basement guard]
Ann Way [old lady with dog]
Don Henderson [first 'Black Maria' guard]
Howard Lew Lewis [second 'Black Maria' guard]
Oscar Quitak, Harold Innocent, John Grillo, Ralph Nossek, David Gant, James Coyle [interview officials]
Patrick Connor [cell guard]
Roger Ashton-Griffiths [priest]
Russel Keith Grant [young gallant at funeral]
Terry Gilliam [lurker]
Dominic Ffytche [office boy - uncredited]
Terry Forestal [running trooper - uncredited]
Peter Sands [Ida's boyfriend - uncredited]

In a a near future drowning in beaurocracy and inefficiency, civil servant Sam Lowry dreams of a better life away from the technology that makes his life unbearable. He gets involved in the wrongful arrest of shoe repairman Harry Buttle instead of the illegal freelance heating engineer Harry Tuttle. While trying to rectify the mistake, he meets Jill Layton, a woman he's never met before but who keeps appearing in his dreams. But the authorities wrongfully suspect Sam of perpetrating a spate of terrorist bombings, and both he and Jill are soon on the run.

An astonishing piece of work from one of modern cinemas master fantasists. Brazil works on so many levels [satire, flat-out comedy, fantasy, political thriller] that each repeated viewing can reveal an entirely different film. Gilliam has made many remarkable films since, but nothing comes even close to matching Brazil's vision, wit and energy.

UK
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video [S035636]; Warner Home Video [S036136] - widescreen

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Pictures
Video Distributor: MCA
Laserdisc Distributor: Voyager / Criterion; MCA Home Video [40171]
DVD Distributor: Universal / MCA Home Video [20168]

Japan
Laserdisc Distributor: Warner Home Video Japan

CENSORSHIP HISTORY

Australia
Rating: M

Finland
Rating: K-16

New Zealand
Rating: R13

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 15

USA
Rating: R

Academy Award Nomination, Best Original Screenplay

Winner of three prizes ar the 1988 LA Film Critics Awards

1985
February
20: France - theatrical release
22: UK - theatrical release

March
15: Sweden - theatrical release

April
26: West Germany - theatrical release

August
16: Finland - theatrical release

December
1: USA - theatrical release

1994
May
9: UK - video release [Warner Home Video [S035636]]

1997
April
14: UK - video release [Warner Home Video [S036136]]

August
8: Switzerland - theatrical re-release in Zurich

It's only a state of mind.

We're all in it together.

It's about flights of fantasy. And the nightmare of reality. Terrorist bombings. And late night shopping. True Love. And creative plumbing.

Have a laugh at the horror of things to come.

1984½ - early title

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
Dreams: The Birth of Brazil [1988]

SEE ALSO
Back to the Future [1985]
The Fifth Element [1997]
Fight Club [1999]
The Fisher King [1991]
Gattaca [1997]
Heavy Metal [1981]
The Hudsucker Proxy [1994]
M [1931]
The Matrix [1999]
Millennium [1989]
Mouse Hunt [1997]
Nineteen Eighty-Four [1984]
Le Proces [1963]
Runaway Brain [1995]
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty [1947]
Star Trek: Insurrection [1998]
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back [1980]
Twelve Monkeys [1995]
You Only Live Twice [1967]

MAGAZINES

Blitz 29 p.21
review

Cineaste XIV:4 pp.48-49
review

New Musical Express 23 February 1985 p.18
review

Premiere [France] February 1985 p.15
review [by Jean-Paul Chaillet]

Radio Times 2-8 April 1988 pp.3, 26
review

Sounds 23 March 1985 p.12
review

NEWSPAPERS

Daily Express 24 October 1985 p.17
review

Daily Mail 22 February 1985 p.24
review

Daily Mirror 22 February 1985 p.24
review

Mail on Sunday 17 February 1985 p.39
review

Southampton Evening Echo 16 March 1985 p.20
review

The Star 5 September 1985 p.9
review

BOOKS

The Battle of Brazil by Jack Matthew [New York: Crown (1987)]

Hoffman's Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 pp.55-56
credits, review

KEYWORDS

the-future; beaurocracy; dreams; flying; authoritarianism