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From: tim@fisher.UUCP (Tim Snyder)
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Brazil and what happens at its end (SPOILER on next page!)
Message-ID: <1389@fisher.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 18-Feb-86 17:29:34 EST
Article-I.D.: fisher.1389
Posted: Tue Feb 18 17:29:34 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 20-Feb-86 01:07:19 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Princeton University.Mathematics
Lines: 75

It is important to remember that one of the main themes of Brazil
is perceived reality, the point being that what one perceives is 
fact.

Furthermore, I think there is a huge difference between 1984's world
and that of Brazil.  1984's is an extrapolation of sociological themes, 
whereas Brazil's world is more of a "redressing" of today's society.
Hence, to discuss Brazil in the 1984 framework misses the mark.
I feel that Brazil works because it manages to disguise fragments
os twentieth-century life so that we can perceive them in a new or 
fresh way.  It is not uncommon to exclaim "Oh, how wierd!" during the
film only to say on reflection, "Well, that is just like what happens 
when..."  In addition, events which seem strange to you may not seem
so to the person next to you.

So, Brazil offers an "historical" perspective on the twentieth-century
to the society of the twentieth-century.  I find this remarkable.
We can watch a film, about, say, colonial America and easily have this
historical perspective since we are quite different, especially in
terms of the various "settings."  Brazil disguises the people and settings
so that we can have this same perspective, almost as if we were people
from another time or culture.

















SPOILER concerning ending follows:




















The ending is definitely HAPPY.  Here's why.  Despite the fact that the hero 
has become (according to "our" reality) a vegetable, acording to his 
reality, he has conquered his problems and achieved his goals.

Similarly, when he finally beds down with his "dream-woman," she suddenly
appears with the long hair of the woman of his dreams.  Is it one of 
his mother's wigs (she probably had many) or is it "real?"  It doesn't
matter, for, to him, she has the long hair.  Hence, he has won all his 
battles (the imagined ones were very real to him, no?) and is eternally
happy.

Flame me over!

				     Chairs,
				      Tim Snyder