This is not your average film, and one I must say is one of the most difficult films to review for the DMR. It's hard to not compare it to Orwell's 1984, which, as you may or may not know, is not exactly the most uplifting of stories. This was the main problem Gilliam had with his fight with Universal to try and release his original version of the movie (they cut together an entirely different take on the film). While quite surreal and unbelievable when it was released in 1985, it has a much more relevant context as we now currently face war with the unseen enemy of terrorism, and the machinery of government grinds on to produce a favorable opinion of itself while the economy goes to hell.
This is pure black comedy, mostly in that it is so sad it is funny. It revolves around Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce), happily invisible as a small cog in the wheel of information processing. Though content to live life as an anonymous consumer (aka a model citizen), he does have a strange fantasy of a love that gives him the motivation to rise above his monotonous lifestyle. Because this is not normal, and people are by all means not encouraged to dream, he quickly finds himself in a lot of trouble. And because everything is driven by a paperwork-driven bureaucracy, a police-state of a war-driven society, and false hopes, it puts a considerable strain on the human condition.
What really makes this film that much more impressive is the style and imagery in which it is all played out. There is the theme of technology, that Gilliam loves to use as its own character. While it is supposed to be part of a future that helps makes lives easier, it is inherently flawed and makes existence that much worse. And the completely polar society that is presented in itself makes this story that much more odd and frighteningly real in some aspects, where an idiotic bureaucracy has run horribly amok.
Yeah. Damn. This is an even harder film to watch, 21.5 years later, just in the fact that it has continued to prove how messed up things have gotten in the intervening years! I am not necessarily one to be pessimistic. But this is a heavy movie, despite its comical trappings. And so many tubes. I’ve watched a time or two since the original review. It kinda filled me with trepidation to return to it once again, but it was necessary. This is still a fantastic and fantastical take on society if left to a soulless bureaucracy. I don’t reread my old notes before doing new reviews. It’s always interesting to see what I notice through an older set of eyes, then compare. This one? Damn. Makes me want to not read 1984 again. But yeah, that last shot? It’ll stick with you.
Fuckit, I scored it a bit lower on re-watch on original but letting the initial score stand. I did watch a slightly different version of the movie, since I did actually procure the Blu Criterion edition for my library at some point, not so much for revisiting but preservation. This shit is dark, but essential.
