244. Brazil

• Year of release: 1985
• Director: Terry Gilliam
• Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
• IMDB Page

Upon hearing this movie's title, I expected a movie about crossdressers. Was I wrong!

The story revolves around Sam Lowry who works at the Ministry of Information, Department Records. The Ministry of Information is an essential part in the totalitarian, bureaucratic government. Sam is happy, or so he thinks, with his work until he sees a woman while on the job. This is odd because he never saw that woman before, but he somehow has these absurd dreams about her, in which he saves her from an evil bureaucratic monster as an angelic knight. He does everything he can to get in touch with the woman and eventually takes the promotion to Information Retrieval, which he never wanted, to get closer to this woman. He eventually finds her and his world is turned upside down.

I'll stop there. The ending is not something I'd want to spoil for you. I can tell you that the ending and actually the second half of the movie is awesome. Scratch that, this entire movie is awesome.

The plot is very good and doesn't bore you with things no one needs to know about. You'll also find that the story isn't very plot driven but is carried more by the characters. Sam's reaction to most scenes is funny, well-written and highly believable. I especially like the scene with the truck chase. Sam's behavior in that scene is hilariously funny and something that's in his nature to do.

As a side mark, I absolutely love Archibald Tuttle, portrayed by Robert De Niro. Just a vague description of his character makes you interested in him: a terrorist plumber. Most of his lines are also brilliant: "Why? I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can't make a move without a form." And that's about how he got into being a freelance plumber.

It doesn't get better than a terrorist plumber.

In fact, this entire movie contains funny quote. Read them on the IMDB page if you want to have a laugh, or chuckle, or two.

In the end, this movie does what it sets out to do and does a good job while doing it: making a satire of the bureaucratic system. You just can't help but enjoy some of the exaggerations while feeling a feeling of familiarity with the situations at hand.

In conclusion:

Buy the Collector's Edition