Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985) - Technology and Happiness

[jkatz]

Terry Gilliam’s film, Brazil, depicts the age-old concern of humans and their addiction to technology. The concept of ‘if the technology doesn’t work neither do the people’ spans throughout the entire film. The famous example is our main character Sam Lowry in his home. Sam doesn’t wake and start his day because his home technology is on the fritz. Sam drinks sugar water and his toast is drenched in coffee as a result.

Brazil is perhaps the definition of satire. Conceivably, man is degraded on every aspect of life. One must be promoted to the proper job to fall in love. One must obtain the proper paper work, which apparently is very upsetting; to fix small air conditioning malfunction and eating an expensive meal has turned into lumpy balls of Gerber products that quite possibly could be ‘too rare.’ This is humorous to me and hopefully to some of you because my view of the world is not tainted in such a way. This is in no way funny because it is true but maybe I’m the problem and I am actually just blind, but I doubt it.

This film is aesthetically intuitive; the colors used throughout really set the tone. Everything appears so foreboding, skyscrapers blocking out the light of the sun, the city a cement garden. The somewhat fabulous element of the music gives it a touch of humor. Like the scene with Sam, his mother and her friends at the fancy restaurant and the waiter uses his cheesy French accent with the whimsical music blasting in the background. It seemingly doesn’t make any sense when in actuality it makes perfect sense and it’s funny. Without these minor details, I would have hated the film. Gilliam completely over exaggerates dependence on technology and to be honest I’m tired of hearing about it.

Our reality is not customizing the color vents or pipes that run through the house and it’s never going to be. Human beings are not so simple as to find satisfaction in something of that sort. Gilliam completely overrides happiness. The only time Sam finds himself even remotely happy is when he is flying around like a bird in his dreams. A little side note on that, at first I thought he was Icarus and he was going to fly too close to the sun and melt, I was slightly disappointed that it didn’t happen. Anyways, I don’t know what there doing over there in England, but this is America where dreams are a reality and happiness is valued. So up yours Terry Gilliam. You’re a filming genius but your ideas are too much.

[C Arthur]

I agree with your analysis, but only to an extent. You have to keep in mind that this movie was made over 20 years ago. In reality that’s were life on earth was going, people hadn’t stopped to realize their full impact on the land around them. Or how attached they had become with progress. It wasn’t until the last ten years or so, had people started to take a notice, and slow down on production. Now a days people are “going green”, driving hybrids, and recycling. Not many did that back then. Though the movie was depicted as ‘somewhere in the 20th century’ it probably was a take on the future, and what life could be like. If the air was extremely polluted, we might have to have processed, purified air. We may not have ducts, but would have generators to pump clean air in, and bad air out. So people were getting a little too attached to technology. You hardly find anyone nowadays who doesn’t have a cell phone handy, or have a TV in their homes. People are a whole lot more lazy now a days, then say in the colonial times, I know that’s not really the point, but still. Since the land in Brazil is so degraded, people can’t just go for a jog or a hike outside, they are pretty much confined to their homes, and offices. So what else is there to do? Since this is a factor, I think Gilliam’s outlook on technology defining happiness is true in a sence. I just think his point was more than technology provides happiness. I think that in the state the world was in, technology does provide some comfort.

[khaney]

I agree with jkatz that the film seems to portray a unique dependency to technology that almost seems satirical. However, I do not believe that in Brazil, film makers were trying to illustrate to us over-dependency on technology as being bad in and of itself, but rather technology becomes bad when it becomes a tool of a larger system in order to blind us from our own oppression.

Take an example from the beginning of the film. Before Mr. Buttle is arrested and impounded, the family is watching television, sitting in a room warmed by the glow of Christmas lights. Then, suddenly, the electricity is cut, and the Buttle family is left sitting in the dark as the person we can assume is the sole provider for the household is arrested, bagged up, and taken away. Suddenly, with the veil of technology lifted from them, the viewer and the family is left with nothing but a sudden realization of how oppressive the society is.

This continued correlation between awareness of situation and the appearance of technology continues throughout the movie. When Sam Lowry, returns to the Buttle’s apartment, to issue the refund check, we once again are confronted with people, such as Mrs. Buttle and Jill Layton who seem to understand the dark underbelly of the system they are forced to be a part of, while at the same time, are in a setting where not even a light bulb is turned on. In fact, the block that the Buttles live on not only seems devoid of technology, but is actually violent against it. Sam’s car is blown up in while he is trying to do nothing more than help out a poor widow.

In conclusion, while I do believe that technology plays an important role in Brazil, I do not believe the point being made through it is that we are overly addicted to it. But, rather, the film is trying to demonstrate to the audience, that in a society that is driven through its ability to dominate all those people whom take part of it, even technology, something meant to help us maximize our capabilities, becomes a tool hindering us from fully reaching our true potential as human beings.

[K Bonnington]

I was particularly struck by the fact that while technology played a dominant role in the film, the technology was absolutely horrific. Even by the standards of the time the film was made, the TV screens were all vastly undersized and not terribly practical for example. The ducts were grossly oversized and pretty much made the wires that plague the rear of computer desks in today’s world look aesthetically pleasant. Behind the walls were miles and miles of complicated cables and strange devices that to anyone who knows how to change a light bulb will appear to be redundant. The way everything is always malfunctioning and breaking really shows that although on the surface it all appears smooth and useful, it just gets in the way more.

This has less to do with separating humans or warning the audience of being too consumed with technology than it does with an overly complex human society. In my mind it seems to relate to all of the rules and bureaucracy that complicate and frustrate all of the people in the film. There is no reason to have to fill out so many useless forms for simple situations, just as there is no reason to have 400 miles of cables hiding behind your walls. I think the technology really goes to reinforce the issues that are developed by the human society.

[aslack]

I have to agree complete that this story does in a way depict technology as the driving force behind our lives. Technology dictates when they wake up, how hot there house is, the air they breathe, and a whole number of other things in their lives.

I do disagree with khaney in the fact that this movie does show that society has become over-dependent on technology and as a result nature has been destroyed. Personally I believe that Gilliam was trying to depict his world that way to prevent society from becoming too dependent on technology. I also think that Gilliam utilized many subtle elements to show that an over-dependency to technology renders society immobile to an extent. As a example of this is when the AC in Sam’s house is broken, it takes a freelance worker, that is considered by many as a terrorist, to completely fix his unit; but when the ‘professionals’ try to fix it they only make the problem worse and unfortunately create a massive amount of paperwork. Gilliam create a satirical take on what he didn’t want society to become.

I do agree with jkatz in the fact that this was targeted towards the British audience and not the American Audience, and over time this will become more applicable to the American audience; but not then and certainly not now.

[R.Davis-Larry]

First I would like to say that I was disappointed that Sam did not fly too close to the sun as well. I thought he was Icarus. I do want to say that I do no think Gilliam’s arguments were too far fetched. Society has and continues to be too dependent on technology. When I do not have distractions from technology, such as the internet, I feel peaceful. I feel that I have to respond to my Facebook comments or my email immediately, when really I just want to relax, but I am afraid that I am missing something. I use my cell phone to remember my daily schedule and tasks. If I did not have my cell phone I would forget to do at least one thing throughout the day. I only know my immediate family members’ phone numbers. When my cell phone broke while I was out of town, the only people I could call were my parents and siblings. So, Gilliam’s argument about technology is very much relevant to me and I think the film does a good job with communicating this idea. I sat down today and thought about my reliance on technology. Until recently, I did not even consider myself to be a technologically dependent person.

As I was watching the film, I assumed Gilliam’s argument was that technology cannot do things better than human beings. It would appear so, but in reality technology makes things more complicated. Someone in the film (possibly Sam) made a comment about machines not making mistakes. I think this was Gilliam’s argument. Machines appear perfect, but since man is making them, then they are in fact imperfect at times. Man fails to understand this, so humans put their trust in these man made machines and then things go wrong. I could be thinking more into the film than I should, but this is what I got out of the film.
~R

[sbirkinshaw]

I’m not sure if addiction is the best word to describe the relationship the people in “Brazil” have with technology. The problem goes far beyond addiction into the realm of enslavement. If you watch poor Sam Lowry as he fights his way through the oppressive urban jungle on his journey to save his beloved dream-girl, Jill, you will notice an ongoing theme. Sam is constantly bombarded by his atmosphere. It is as if the technological world Lowry lives in is the true antagonist in the film. He has to duck under dangling wires. He has to circumvent labyrinths of crusted, degraded piping. He forces his way around the onslaught of billowing gasses and treacherous tubing. There is hardly any other physical force standing in his way throughout the entire film. One cannot deny the occasional run-in with actual authority figures in the flesh. However, this is nothing compared to the overwhelming bombardment of twisted technology. So I say this: the problem started as an addiction but it moved far beyond that into a realm where technology has choked out the life-force of all nature.

I use the word ‘choke’ here because I find it to be appropriate. Throughout the film you are presented with a suffocated feeling. The most obvious example is the futuristic restraining devices used frequently in the film. Its something like a straight-jacket infused with the most uncomfortably oversized turtleneck, all toped off with locks and chains. Another one of my favorites are the inquisitive little robots we see in the front lobby where Lowry works. The thing got right up in peoples’ faces. Personal space is nonexistent in this future I guess. The only person who seemed to have an upper hand and could actually use the technology to his benefit was Harry Tuttle (I must say I had I nice laugh when I realized it was Robert De Niro). He was the superhero of the film. He didn’t get stuck on elevators, he didn’t need a car. He traveled the Batman way, via GRAPPLING HOOK! Nothing stops a man who knows how to use something like that. I would argue that Lowry looks up to Tuttle because of this. This can be seen in his dreams. Lowry wants to fly like an eagle with nothing standing in his way. You see his antagonist (technology) personified in his dreams as this gigantic samurai encrusted with thick armor. In his dreams he slays this beast. Sadly, reality is a different story. Lowry is forever stuck under the heavy boot of the technological world he lives in. On the other hand you have Tuttle, the anti-Lowry. This man does not live under the yoke of the technological superstructure. He is as free as a bird, leaping frivolously from apartment to apartment fixing people’s air conditioning. Ahh, he is the true rebel and Lowry admires this.