Cinema
Brazil
Terry Gilliam · 1985
Synopsis
Eight forty-nine p.m., somewhere in the twentieth century, shortly before Christmas. A squashed insect falls into a machine at the Ministry of Information and changes a letter: the warrant targeting Tuttle, a clandestine heating engineer, comes out in the name of Buttle. Men break through the ceiling of the Buttles' flat, carry off the father shut in a canvas bag and make his wife sign form after form, and she receives a receipt for her husband.
Context
The film was released in Europe in February 1985 in its author's version, one hundred and forty-two minutes long. In the United States, the studio president, who refused the film as it stood, had a ninety-four-minute cut prepared without the director's agreement, reorganised around the love story. The director organised clandestine screenings for students and critics, and ran a full-page advertisement asking the studio president when he would release his film. The Los Angeles critics' association gave it its prizes for best film, best director and screenplay although the film had not been released; a few days later, the studio released a one-hundred-and-thirty-two-minute version.
Who it is for
Two hours twenty-two minutes, in English with subtitles or in a French-language version; the discs released in France follow the cut the author wanted.
Prizes and reception
Two Oscar nominations, for original screenplay and art direction; awarded in Los Angeles before any American release.
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