Brazil - The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam tackles the dystopian future in his hyper-stylized masterpiece Brazil. Brazil follows Sam, the son of an aristocrat who is content living his life as a bureaucrat in the future government, until he has prophetic dreams of grandeur that involve him saving a damsel from evil masked creatures of darkness. While investigating a bureaucratic mix-up, Sam sees from afar the woman from his dream. In pursuit of her, he gets mixed up in underground terror networks, mistaken identity, and rebellion. Gilliam’s view of the future is a bureaucratic hellhole where the workers follow blindly, and the rest of the population is poor, and the ones who can afford a comfortable life only identify themselves through their consumption of products, as well as the ever-constant race of keeping up with the Joneses to a sometimes-fatal result.

The future depicted in Brazil is comparable to the already-existing oeuvre of dystopian fiction. He pulls from the literary canon, in particular Kafka, in his depictions of mindless bureaucracy. Obviously, there’s some 1984 in the depiction of the constant surveillance state. The story of a bureaucrat falling in love with a potential enemy of the state is reminiscent of the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. The design of Sam’s apartment’s automated systems reminds me of a handful of Ray Bradbury shorts. I would count this as a gorgeously dour cumulation of all the previously mentioned dystopias and wrapped into one truly exemplary cinematic experience.

The film seems somewhat quaint in its representation of the future, mostly in that the world would still be run by bureaucrats instead of being almost fully automated as it is today. The world Gilliam portrays did get right the constant surveillance state and the consumeristic distractions, which are hinted at throughout the background of the picture. The most prescient aspect of this world is how an unnamed terror network causes constant attacks and mayhem. The attacks themselves aren’t prescient in and of themselves, but the response of the everyday person is truly chilling. There’s one scene where Sam is having dinner with his mother and her friends when a bomb goes off in part of the restaurant, the non-exploded patrons just ignore the mayhem as the maître d puts up barriers while apologizing for the interruption of the wealthy people’s meal. This is very reflective of the social media era’s ability to witness violence during the quotidian barrage of advertisements and consuming “content”. While portions of this film are reminiscent of the old school sci-fi dystopia of the 20th century, it still holds up as a grand spectacle of the horrifying near future.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
Brazil from Criterion includes three discs: One 4K UHD of the film, a Blu-ray that includes the film as well, and a second Blu-ray that contains the bonus features. The three discs are housed in a clear case, which includes the artwork from the previous Blu-ray release by Criterion. There is also a booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Sterritt.

This director-approved 4K digital restoration by Criterion on Brazil is phenomenal. Having compared the Blu-ray to the 4K quality, the latter is crisper in visual quality. There is also a little darker grading through the implementation of Dolby Vision HDR, which adds layers to the noir elements included throughout the film. The production design is so completely realized in this movie that it is truly remarkable. The dystopian cityscape is claustrophobic and makes you yearn to touch grass. The city appears to have no exterior except when traveling from the city center to the outskirts, where the poor live in tenements converted from old nuclear cooling towers. The roads connecting the two spaces are lined with advertisements, obscuring the desolate landscape of the future that the extractive industries wrought on the world. Because of the poisoned air, the interiors of the buildings are heavily air-conditioned, and ducts play a huge part in the connective tissue of this society, even to the point that there are television commercials advertising ducts that will match the personality of any consumer. The practical effects in the dream sequences and the chase scenes are impeccable. The use of miniatures in the scenes where Sam is flying is stunning on a practical level, and the car chases through the city center are also something to behold. The entire production design is a freakshow menagerie used in a perfect manner that makes the world feel like a panopticon for the characters in the film, as well as leaving the audience with an inescapable sense of dread. 

The 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack of this release is unmatched in audio quality. The sound design is on point, the dialogue comes out crystal clear, so you can hear all the hustle and bustle of bureaucratic life in the future. The sound design of this future is truly unnerving, feeling like Eraserhead. Gilliam has a constant hum of industrial noises and especially a constant whir of air conditioning units, never allowing a moment of complete silence to occur in the entire run time. The audio matches the high quality of the picture and is well worth the buy for the complete home video experience.

Brazil from Criterion includes an audio commentary by the director as well as three features speaking on the making of the film, as well as a feature going over Gilliam’s production design. The "love conquers all" cut of the film is also a nice touch, which shows a version of the film that ends with a happy ending instead of the one in the director’s cut.

• Audio Commentary - Terry Gilliam
• What Is Brazil? - Rob Hedden’s on-set documentary
• The Production Notebook - A collection of interviews and video essays, featuring a trove of Brazil-iana from Gilliam’s collection
• The Battle of Brazil - Documentary about the film’s contentious release, hosted by Jack Mathews and based on his book of the same name
• “Love Conquers All” version - The studio’s ninety-four-minute, happy-ending cut of Brazil, with commentary by Brazil expert David Morgan
• Trailer

This release is phenomenal. The 4K upgrade is well worth the extra money. Along with the 4K, you receive a Blu-ray copy of the movie and an extra disc featuring all of the phenomenal extra features. The movie itself is a sci-fi classic and well worth buying in any format. I would recommend this movie if you’re in the mood for a bummer of a movie, and even if you aren’t, you can throw on the “love conquers all” cut of the movie, which has a happy ending, so it’s a win-win all around. The new Criterion 4K upgrade of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil is a Must Own!