Brazil (1985) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Pitting the imagination of common man Sam Lowry (the brilliantly befuddled Jonathan Pryce) against the oppressive storm troopers of the Ministry of Information, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil has come to be regarded as an anti-totalitarianism cautionary tale equal to the works of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Gathering footage from both the European and American versions of this masterpiece, Gilliam has assembled the ultimate, 142-minute director’s cut of his most celebrated film.

Cast

Sam Lowry	Jonathan Pryce
Harry Tuttle	Robert De Niro
Mrs. Ida Lowry	Katherine Helmond
Mr. Kurtzmann	Ian Holm
Spoor	Bob Hoskins
Jack Lint	Michael Palin
Mr. Warren	Ian Richardson
Mr. Helpmann	Peter Vaughan
Jill Layton	Kim Griest
Dr. Jaffe	Jim Broadbent
Mrs. Terrain	Babara Hicks
Lime	Charles McKeown

Credits

Director	Terry Gilliam
Producer	Arnon Milchan
Screenplay	Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown and Terry Gilliam
Cinematography	Roger Pratt
Co-producer	Patrick Cassavetti
Music	Michael Kamen
Production Design	Norman Garwood
Special effects supervisor	George Gibbs
Model effects supervisor	Richard Conway
Costume design	James Acheson
Haird and makeup design	Maggie Weston
Art direction	John Beard and Keith Pain

Disc Features

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL FEATURES

SINGLE DISC EDITION; $29.95

All-new, restored high-definition anamorphic digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terry Gilliam, with a remastered Dolby stereo surround soundtrack
Audio commentary by Gilliam
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by Jack Mathews

THE ULTIMATE THREE-DISC SPECIAL EDITION BOX SET; $59.95:

DISC ONE:
All-new, restored high-definition anamorphic digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Terry Gilliam, with a remastered Dolby stereo surround soundtrack
Audio commentary by Gilliam
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
PLUS: An essay by Jack Mathews

DISC TWO:
A treasure trove of Brazil-iana:
30-minute on-set documentary What Is Brazil?
Criterion’s original exposé The Battle of “Brazil”: A Video History, which reassembles players in the battle over the film’s U.S. release
Hundreds of storyboards, drawings, and publicity and production stills
Rare raw and behind-the-scenes footage
Exclusive video interviews with the production team
Original theatrical trailer

DISC THREE:
The 94-minute “Love Conquers All” version of Brazil, with all the changes Gilliam refused to make
An audio essay by journalist David Morgan

From the Current

Brazil

by Jack Mathews Sep 27, 1999

While researching a book on the making of and the feud over the American release of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, I read nearly every review published in the U.S., and saw very few that failed to describe the story as “futuristic” or “Orwellian.” Most called it both. The comparisons...