'Brazil' soooo Goliathian.
Posted by:
Jazz_Sue (---.in-addr.btopenworld.com)
Date: September 07, 2007 11:13AM
I managed to catch this movie on late night TV recently, and was so glad I did. Wondered what others think of it? I must confess that, prior to discovering JF, I'd never got further than the first 30minutes (usually because I'd missed the first 15, which you need to understand the rest of the film) but I now see what the fuss was all about. This was Goliath in all its glory - stupid, governmental rules, towering skyscrapers, bent politicians and glorious, glorious anarchy!
One more point: as a 'writer in progress' I'm used to being given 'sensible advice' for 'successful (i.e 'saleable') copy. This includes the RTMNBB (rules that must NOT be broken) when it comes to penning a story. Thus, we have the inevitable 'grand plan' by which all novels are written: there must be a hero/heroine and a villain. Hero has to undergo hardship, danger and privation (yes, even in chick lit lite) until - hey presto! - there's a happy ending.
So well done, Terry Jones, for turning this last rule squarely on its head and giving us the most downbeat and tragic ending of any movie I've seen - unless, of course, you were the hero. It's given me the inspiration to ignore some of that tutorial advice, and be a bit less 'safe' with my own writing.Yes, Brazil left me feeling damned uncomfortable; the bad guys squarely win, the nasty things will never come to an end no matter how hard people fight, and that final scene keeps me awake some nights still thinking about it. But I now see it's the only way the world can ever HAVE heroes, and also why writers of Jasper's intellect can happily drown a two year old in a river, or kill off a much loved character (Mycroft - or Sirius in Harry Potter) and not worry too much how the readers will take it.
Much better than safe, happy story lines!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2007 11:15AM by Jazz_Sue.