Nobody can adapt a novel better than Gilliam.
Read and watch Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for proof. It is astonishing how Gilliam manages to film Thompson’s drug crazed gonzo journalism. But back in ’85 Michael Radford had already adapted the most influential science fiction novel with his excellent version of 1984. Gilliam decided to create his own dystopia in Brazil.

The tagline says it all.
“It’s only a state of mind.”
Somewhere in the twentieth century, the state controls the population and everything from fixing an old fashioned crapper to tax returns takes an intimidating amount of paperwork. A civil servant called Sam Lowry (Pryce) finds an error in the paperwork that goes through his office. The error results in the arrest and the apparent death of the wrong man. Ignoring policy, Lowry attempts to fix the error and runs into, quite literally, the woman of his dreams. The woman herself wants an answer for the mistake and is targeted by the government. Mix with that the problem of mindless terrorism, the mystifying Harry Tuttle (an illegal freelancing heating engineer wanted by the state played splendidly by De Niro) and Lowry’s bizarre dreams of flying, kissing a woman and fighting a giant inhuman samurai and you have an enthralling plot. As Lowry befriends Tuttle, falls inescapably in love with the woman of his dreams and breaks laws without fear of consequence, he is becoming not only a target for the state but a victim of his own fantasies.

Brazil is 1984 without the bleakness and grim vision and injected with a sense of humour that will make you howl with belly laughter. Pryce is a revelation as a man caught in a quagmire of confusion and love. De Niro is as versatile as ever, far funnier than his recent comedy work. There are at least three versions of Brazil and all except the director’s cut should be avoided. Unmissable for fans of 1984.