I just saw Terry Gilliam’s Brazil for the first time tonight. I am having the hardest time wrapping my head around it in terms of forming an opinion. First off, whoever the fuck says anything about its darkly comedic elements being like Dr. Strangelove is flat wrong. Brazil’s humor falls largely into the category of, “Oh wow, how much Bureaucracy can poor Sam get mixed up in?!?” As a result, I found the comedic parts repetitive and predictable mostly. That said, DeNiro’s character (approximate screentime 10 minutes) and performance was top notch and definitely funny.

I liked some aspects of the film, it was thought-provoking and put a rather interesting spin on the dystopian material I scarfed so hungrily in high school. I guess I’m just trying to come to grips with people calling it a classic. As I said it’s thought-provoking but anything with as many disparate elements of fantasy and reality flying off the screen prompts one to use the ol’ noggin just to figure out what the fuck is happening. And then comes the tiresome (because the direction was purposefully muddled in this respect) debate, “is it happening in reality or in his head. . .or maybe the whole thing is in his head!” I welcome a little ambiguity, but if discussions like that and a bleak vision of the future is what makes Brazil crack IMDB’s top 200, I guess I didn’t miss the boat. I don’t mean to bash, because Brazil isn’t a terrible film, but based on shared opinions (with other people on other films) I was supposed to love this movie. I’m just trying to understand where the disconnect occurred.