BRAZIL: A Hero without a Foe
Terry Gillingham is known for his dream state imagery (in its many forms from Monty Python to Brazil). In Brazil he pushes the envelope by creating a world that is so suppressed in every aspect that Sam, a normal guy, is pushed to create his on antagonist just so he can feel like a hero. Brazil is a unique film in which it the hero is actually reacting against something that isn’t even there, but essentially gets himself into trouble because of his fantasy.
Sam Lowry is the most archetypal hero in the three films discussed here, reluctant, but with good motives, Sam just wants to save the world via the girl. His imagination allows him to fantasize about a world he knows nothing about. He is caught in the world of concrete high density buildings and panelled walls. As he pushes the boundaries of society, trying to break out of what is deemed right, he finds (just as embodied in the walls in his apartment) there is more chaos behind what is perceived as ordered. With the help of Jill, whom he perceives is the damsel in distress, he fights his way through the oppression, longing to free, to be recognized. The oppression is real enough but the action he takes is what in fact leads to his end. That is to say that is a series of fortunate events that leads Sam to the only excuse he needs to live out his fantasy. So it can be argued that it was society that caused Sam’s need to fantasize, but it is his own weakness of character that leads Sam to succumb to the oppressions of society originally. Sam is literally his own worse enemy.
Because it is revealed that a lot of what happens to Sam in the latter half of the film is part of his dream state, the imagery is compelling of what he perceives. The room in which he is being tortured, I long and hallow, bleak, reflecting his state of mind. The bed he is with Jill is truly a thing of fantasy. The buildings of the government are fascist and soul crushing, as is his opinion of his life. As he “escapes” with Jill in to the green country side, almost all architectural elements slip from the imagery as he slips for existence.
