USA, UK, 1985
131m (USA), 142m (UK – director’s cut)
35mm film, Technicolor, 1.85:1
Dolby, English
An American/British science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam.
Plot Summary
In a a near future drowning in bureaucracy 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.
Credits
Crew
Director: Terry Gilliam
Embassy, Universal
Producer: Arnon Milchan
Co-Producer: Patrick Cassavetti
Script: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles Mckeown
Director of Photography: Roger Pratt
Editor: Julian Doyle
Music: Michael Kamen
Sound Recordist: Bob Doyle
Costume Designer: James Acheson
Hair & Make-Up Designer: Maggie Weston
Prosthetic Make-Up: Aaron Sherman
Special Effects Supervisor: George Gibbs
Matte Artist: Ray Caple
Production Designer: Norman Garwood
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)
Alternative Titles
1984½ – early title
Links
Extracts 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)
References
Periodicals
- Blitz no.29 p.21 – review
- Cineaste vol.24 no.4 pp.48-49 – review
- DeathRay no.21 (October/November 2009) pp.74-79 – illustrated interview with Terry Gilliam (The DeathRay interview: Terry Gilliam by Will Lawrence); 80-81 – illustrated article (DeathRay Eight of the best… by Stephen Baxter)
- L’Écran Fantastique no.52 (January 1985) p.11 – illustrated note (Les prochaines sorties)
- Interzone no.13 (Autumn 1985) p.31 – review (by Nick Lowe)
- Interzone no.238 (January/February 2012) p.52 – review (by Tony Lee)
- New Musical Express 23 February 1985 p.18 – illustrated review (Silver screen: Movies: Brazil by Mat Snow); illustrated interview with Terry Gilliam (Silver screen: Movies: Nutty crunch by Danny Kelly)
- Premiere 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
- 100 Cult Films by Ernest Mathijs & Xavier Mendik pp.33-34 – review by EM [Ernest Mathijs]
- 500 Essential Cult Movies: The Ultimate Guide by Jennifer Eiss with J.P. Rutter and Steve White p.135 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction by Phil Hardy (ed) p.391-392 – illustrated credits, review
- The Battle of Brazil by Jack Matthew (New York: Crown (1987)) – article
- BFI Screen Guides: 100 Science Fiction Films by Barry Keith Grant pp.25-26 – illustrated credits, review
- Film Review 1985-1986 by F. Maurice Speed pp.44-45 – illustrated credits, synopsis, review
- The Film’s of the Eighties by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan p.67 – credits, synopsis
- The Ghost of One’s Self: Doppelgangers in Mystery, Horror and Science Fiction Films by Paul Meehan pp.81, 180
- Hoffman’s Guide to Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 pp.55-56 – credits, review
- Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.62
- Looking for a New England: Action, Time, Vision: Music, Film and TV 1975-1986 by Simon Matthews pp.19, 95-96, 101, 145, 196
- Sci-fi Chronicles by Guy Haley (ed.) pp.126, 402
- Variety Science-Fiction Movies by Julian Brown (ed.) p.22 – credits, review
Other sources
- BFI Southbank Guide August 2009 p.22 – illustrated listing
- BFI Southbank Guide July 2017 p.38 – illustrated listing
