RUTZ Music Video: "Always Here"

Here is my first music video. I want to thank everybody that has supported my work and I hope this music video brings you joy. Your excitement and conversations are invaluable. This is a song I made a long time ago for someone very dear to me. I always wanted to do a video for it and everything just came together rather quickly so I feel very fortunate. Enjoy, I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

RUTZ Classic Movies: Commando

Directed by Mark L. Lester

Line that stays with me:  “Want to see me kick some ass?”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

How many more overly serious and, lame, message filled action movies do we have to sit through before Hollywood starts making films like “Commando” again? An action movie not one bit ashamed of being exactly what it is, loud and action packed fun.  Made in 1985 during Hollywood’s last hurrah in creating action stars, Commando is a special, perfect blend of star power and a director’s strong vision. This is the sort of film critics ignore, for it has too much fun and doesn’t try to give us a meaningful message.  Those aimless feelings are to blame when films like “Ordinary People” beat out films like “Raging Bull” for best picture. Any movie can be great, no matter what the subject or genre. I do not think one film carries more importance than the next. At the end of the day they are just stories being told, each with their own different set of merits. Still, to be honest it is really hard for me to respect any great drama after watching an amazing martial arts film, yet the last martial arts film to get heavy Academy attention was “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.  “Kill Bill” with its fantastic, now classic “Crazy 88’s” scene got nothing.  That is the fate of all films that go against traditionalism and deliver surreal exciting activity with cinematic perfection. When this sort of movie is done right, it is usually the most fun you ever have at the movies. That’s why I love Commando, it wants me to have a good time, laugh at its jokes, and enjoy the bloody carnage; and I do.

Commando is the movie made for the inner child still in all men. My generation grew up on these type of films from Stallone’s “Cobra” to Van Damme’s  “Bloodsport”.  These are the action movies released in the 80’s that later turned up in what seemed like on a weekly basis on TNT’s “Movies for guys who like movies”.  As a person that thirsts cinematic experiences of all kinds, it was a blast to watch an “Above the Law” and “Roadhouse” double feature. Now, the films I just mentioned are fine for the moment but “Commando” is on its own level.  It’s one of the few films that sits next to the first “Highlander” as odd cinematic perfection. After watching “Commando” you are left with the fascination of trying to figure out why you truly like the film even though it has its misgivings. Commando has plenty of mistakes in it. You keep asking yourself “Is this movie serious?” or “Was that intentional?” I am here to tell you it doesn’t matter.  In one scene you can see the entire crew off a reflection of a car and in another you see Arnold lose his wallet but somehow the wallet finds its way back to him later in the film.  None of these errors were powerful enough to destroy director Mark L. Lester’s vision, Steven E. De Souza screenplay and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s star power.

It starts really slow. First, you laugh at the dialog. Dialog this fun and direct does not exist anymore. It seems to me that the screenwriter was having the time of his life trying to stick as many puns and zingers into this movie as he could. As a tribute to his excellent work, I have compiled a list of my 20 favorite lines of dialog. 

Commando Dialog Top 20 (No particular order) Steven E. De Souza Tribute

·         “All that matters to me now is Jenny!” 

·         “Let off some steam, Bennett!” 

·         “You have enemies all over the world John” 

·         “Your training, Matrix!” 

·         “I eat Green Berets for breakfast. And right now, I'm very hungry!” 

·         “Slitting a little girl's throat is like cutting warm butter.” (WTF!)

·         “Put the knife away and shut your mouth.”

·         “Someone’s killing your men…”

·         “Tranquilizers…. I wanted to use the real thing!” 

·         “The bird is flown”

·         “You know what I like best about this car? The price.”

·         “Silent and smooth just like always” 

·         “Don’t bother my friend he’s dead tired” 

·         “You're a funny guy Sully, I like you. That's why I'm going to kill you last”

·         “John... I'll be ready, John.”

·         “John, I'm not going to shoot you between the eyes. I'm going to shoot you between the balls.”

·         “Ever since you had me thrown out of your unit, I've waited to pay you back. Do you know what today is Matrix?... Pay day!”

·         “They offered me a hundred grand. You want to know something? When I found out I could get my hands on you, I said I'd do it for nothing.”

·         “I don't need the gun John. I can beat you. I DON'T NEED NO GUN!”

·         "Welcome back John! So glad you can make it!"

Once you become well versed in Commando’s dialog it is almost impossible not to quote the film with friends who also fell for Commando’s choice of words.  It is silly and fun without losing a bit of credibility or story thrust. A hard act to master and it took the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger to pull it off.  Politics and personal tidbits thrown to the wayside, Arnold Schwarzenegger the superstar is a force to be reckoned with.  It is almost proven that any series that tries to move on without him fails miserably (The Terminator, Conan, and Predator) Good luck new version of “Total Recall”. He’s visual presence and unique dialect just works to make him the perfect action star of our times. Movie magic at its best; cast the world’s strongest man in a role that could only be played by the strongest man in the world. Never under estimate the strength of a true star’s presence. It was something Hollywood was great at. From Humphrey Bogart to Jack Nicholson, a star’s charisma can land him in 10 similar roles and still excite us. Yes, we are watching a character but mostly we are enjoying the unique abilities that only this star can do. Humphrey Bogart in “The Big Sleep”, “The Maltese Falcon” and, “Beat the Devil”, are a perfect example of that sort of star power.  Who else but Arnold could get away with saying lines like “Get down” and “I’ll be back” in almost every other movie he’s in?

Naturally a film cannot achieve greatness with star power alone. It can survive as many actions films do starring Jason Statham but to achieve cinematic greatness you have to deliver the goods in various basic movie fundamentals. Director Mark L. Lester and his screenwriter were very smart in giving Arnold great visual moments, properly setting up this action piece for him. I hate watching a great action star go to waste in a film that doesn’t exhibit any of the star’s gifts. (The Rock in “The Tooth Fairy”) In Commando we watch Arnold single handily push what looks like a Chevy Trailblazer downhill, rip off a car seat, rip up a telephone booth, hold the character Sully upside down with one hand and, Arnold running through a glass wooden door even though I am pretty it wasn’t necessary. The filmmakers were very keen on how to best utilize Arnold’s strengths just like James Cameron did in the first two Terminator films.   

One of the reasons I think people don’t revere Commando as a great movie is because it moves so seamless. That’s the signature of great work. The simple “I got to save my daughter “story works and the filmmakers set up a great tone that will not exhaust the flow by executing highly in other areas. For one the supporting cast in this film is very strong. It is filled with great character actors. Dan Hedaya is great as a stereotypical dictator, Vernon Wells is too perfect as John Matrix’s back stabbing partner Bennett, which might be the most out of shape villain in any action movie ever. That’s when you know the filmmakers have done their job, when you actually believe that Bennett could ever compete with John Matrix. Watch the film again and enjoy how badly out of shape Vernon Wells is. Enjoy the formidable talents of Bill Duke and one of the best sleazy looking character actors ever, David Patrick Kelly also adds so much zest to the mix.  Watching this cast kick macho lines back and forth to each other is just plain fun and hilarious. Plus, let us not forget James Horner’s crazy wonderful score filled with wild jazzy horns and steel drums. The score alone makes me laugh, it is very effective, but man those steel drums do it to me every time.

Bottom-line, if girls just want to have fun than guys just want to see things blow up, crazy shoot outs, and some sexy vixens. We are men. We were once boys playing with fake guns, while taking crazy chances trying to pull off our own dangerous stunts. Great movies like “Commando” allow you to enjoy that side of you, that side of you that still likes to play and raise hell. The movie has no tear jerking moments; it is fun all the way around. That’s why the opening has that silly moment where Arnold is feeding a deer with his daughter. It is a funny moment but it’s also poking fun at itself to make sure you don’t take the whole thing too seriously. The movie is proudly immature. It knows we don’t need a sappy ending like “Con-Air”; we just want mayhem and a cool one liner to close the film out. Obviously “Commando” is geared towards a specific gender and that’s the way things are. Women get excited about watching films like “The Notebook” and “The Vow” films that tickle their interest. Films that play on woman’s childhood built dreams of getting married and living happily ever after. Our childhood dreams was being an action hero or super hero, ideas that live off our testosterone.  Unfortunately, they are not a lot of filmmakers left trying to be that bold and manly. “Taken” is pretty much the same movie as “Commando” but it’s Commando with “realism”. I miss a good ole movie that doesn’t care about “realism” but impresses me with its style and great storytelling. I am not saying “Taken” is a bad film but it is not my idea of a fun film. Signs of the time I suppose.  Commando wasn’t afraid to say I know what the boy in you wants. You want car chases; bloody shoot outs, explosion after explosion, limbs being cut off, someone getting stabbed with a pitchfork, machine gun frenzy with unlimited ammo, that’s what we want! 

Who wants to watch realism when you can watch the 1^st48 on A&E? Commando is make believe in every sense of the word with cool make up effects, stunt doubles exploding into the air, exaggerated gun fire, it’s soul was created from the good ole days of playing make believe with your friends. “I shot you, I shot you, you got to get on the ground” that sort of fun.  The only difference is that the filmmakers that brought us “Commando” had 10 million dollars to play with and a great crew.  The film delivered on its promise of wild, action packed fun. It didn’t set out to please everybody because that is impossible. Most action films these days try to please everybody and stick some sloppy romantic subplot that goes nowhere, dragging the movie down. Not “Commando”, in “Commando” even Arnold’s kidnapped daughter is tough. There are no drags, it opens with guns ablazing and closes with the catchy, silly yet appropriate PowerStation song “We fight for love”. Will there ever be a film this fun, silly, over the top, and straight forward ever again? Well as John Matrix said at the end of the film, “No chance”. 

So rejoice and enjoy this excellent parody "Commando: The Musical"   

ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette

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RUTZ Rant #1

Free writing rants by RUTZ

Everything I have in a paper cup. Nobody asks what. Time keeps ticking everything is cliché and redundant. Some have lived the best times. Competition will never stop. I take everything I have to make this strong. You wouldn’t understand. You keep walking in the right direction. The smiles look better each year. Dear what a delight to have you for the holidays screaming let’s get away! Running all the time especially when you speak in that manner. Feed those crooked lowest of low villains to the sharks.  You can never tell. I thought everything was fine. Everybody has a bomb, things got better. Celebrities’ having babies why is that important to my life. I am being selfish, who cares. Time to shrug off everything that used to make sense; I am no longer that person. New ideas make sense now but how long will that last. I do not want to fight the power in my late forties. I have the energy to fight the powers that be right now. What if things go terribly wrong 20 years from now? They’re already creating synthetic meat!! Beef prices will rise to ridicules amounts in order for the elite rich to relish what is left.  I sound crazy now but so does synthetic meat. I do not want to eat fake meat bedazzled with food coloring. Maybe McDonald’s been doing it for years.  Who envisioned this future? Only a madman will commit his species to a path that will devour all natural resources for future generations. Guess they know something we don’t. Nothing like being carefully distracted to make you feel like everything is OK. Hey! Look over there! 

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RUTZ: Mini EP : "Neglected Behavior"

 

Neglected Behavior by RUTZ

I made most of this music about 2 years ago when I first started to create songs. Time to let these things loose and continue on with my work. Very excited about the new songs I'm working on now but these old songs are my inspiration. Through them I found my crazy form and style that I will continue to build on. A big thanks to everyone who has supported me, I know you guys are counting on me and I will not let you down. Enjoy!

Much Love.

RUTZ

Neglected Behavior

1. Hardly Wait

2. The Spaceship

3. The Shutdown

4. But mirror it feels good

5. Parade with your heart 

Written, Produced and Performed by RUTZ

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RUTZ Classic Movies: Punch Drunk Love

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson



Line that stays with me: “You're being weird, stop being weird ”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

Every filmmaker has one filmmaker they look up to and connect with on an instant level. Paul Thomas Anderson is that director for me. Not that he's my favorite director because favorite is such a limited word. I dare not compare filmmakers to each other; every filmmaker has something to offer. I am more attracted to personal films which usually will pleasantly surprise us with its storytelling.  Perfect example is David Fincher, I love his work but his films sometimes are so genre based that you do not get that feeling that you are watching something “NEW” which is very important in cinema. That’s where Paul Thomas Anderson thrives. One of the few directors left trying to continue the great tradition of cinema. His dedication to being innovative and still delivering greatness in the fundamentals of cinema such as: beautiful cinematography, great characters, amazing performances, calculated production design and always a wonderful score to keep it all together, is truly something to celebrate.  Most directors get one or two of those fundamentals right, somehow Paul Thomas Anderson has managed to hit all those marks with each one of his films. This is no easy feat!

Before we get deep into Punch Drunk Love, I believe it is necessary to chart the past a bit in order to understand the film and the various nuances it has to offer.  The 90’s was a great time to be a young filmmaker.  The first film that made me feel like I MUST BECOME A FILMMAKER was Scorsese’s "Goodfellas" which came out in 1989. I was only seven years old when I first watched it so of course I had no idea of what to do with my bottled ambition. A half a decade later, I saw Quentin Tarantino rise to fame with “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction”. This was a great time for any young filmmaker to learn and dream, but still I was only 10 and puberty is a hell of a distraction. Three years after “Pulp Fiction” I ordered a movie on pay per view called “Boogie Nights” (without telling my mother, so I got busted when the bill came in) and I got the same rush that I got from watching “Goodfellas”.  “Boogie Nights” screams of pure cinema. After “Boogie Nights” I got serious about my profession. It had homages of all sorts, Paul Thomas Anderson is not shy about taking someone else’s idea and making it his. “Boogie Nights” had the Robert Altman approach; Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme elaborate shots plus many other lovely homages ranging from classic films like “I am Cuba” to “On the Waterfront”. With all those great tributes on display, Mr. Anderson was called a rip off artist and was dubbed “Robert Altman JR”.  I don’t think that sort of name calling bothered him much. There’s over a thousand starving filmmakers out there right now who wouldn’t mind being called “Robert Altman JR” but in cinema it is very important to have an identity and that’s where Punch Drunk Love comes in.  

After “Boogie Nights” Paul Thomas Anderson made “Magnolia”.  That epic film cemented Paul Thomas Anderson in the high ranks of American filmmakers.  I love that film, so much to admire, but it still has the same visual flourishes of “Boogie Nights” and the Robert Altman approach was intact. With his first three films Paul Thomas Anderson used many great ideas from the vast pool of film history, but after all the excitement of those first strings of ideas have vanished, how do you get excited about your next project? How do you find your true style? How do you find your identity as a filmmaker? "Punch Drunk Love" plays on that riff. The filmmaker and the film itself are truly one.  With every experimental shot in the film which range from shots timed to capture lens flare (I think Paul Thomas Anderson brought that old technique back, then the new Star Trek killed it) , shaky handheld shots in unique moments and stunning long takes, Paul Thomas Anderson was taking a step forward to find his next stage as a filmmaker. To become like Barry Egan is at the end of film, in tune with himself and his world. That’s why I love the last piece of dialog in the film delivered by Emily Watson to Barry Egan, “So here we go”. Throughout the film Barry plays his harmonium, each effort finds him trying to get on same wave length with the score of the film only to always miss a note. At the end of the film, after several tries, Barry and the film are on the same page. It all comes together when Barry finally finds some love in his life. Now you could interpret that as a sweet sentiment on the power of love or as a declaration from a filmmaker trying to reach a new place with his love; filmmaking. Paul Thomas Anderson followed “Punch Drunk Love” with “There Will Be Blood” so I think it’s pretty safe to say that he found that new place with his love.

Paul Thomas Anderson is very intelligent and instead of using some of his usual influences, it’s like he said how about these other filmmakers I love, how about playing with some of their ideas and mixing them with his own new approach. In “Punch Drunk Love” you get homages to the likes of Jacques Tati, Francois Truffaut and David Lynch.  Jacques Tati’s approach to physical comedy is there when we watch Adam Sandler do his little dance in the supermarket or when Luis Guzman hilariously hit the ground from a busted chair. François Truffaut’s romanticism of cinema is in the DNA of this film. The artwork of the late Jeremy Blake is used in the film with the same energy Truffaut had to turn old ideas into new ones.  It seems to me that Mr. Anderson was very concerned on delivering a new experience to film goers. The live sound is recorded in a very different manner, everything sounds louder and robust. Listen to that scene when Adam Sandler destroys the bathroom, that’s not standard Hollywood live sound. Even the score creates new ways to set up a cue for the audience, lookout for that example in the opening scene. The most powerful filmmakers are the ones that know about all the variations of storytelling and use those ideas any which they want to deliver their grand picture.  Sound comes from the radio era, and in the sense of structure Quentin Tarantino is inspired by novels. When you have a large amount of knowledge on how to tell a story, all you have to do is put some of those ideas in the right place and make sure they work together.

The main piece that makes “Punch Drunk Love” work is Adam Sandler’s performance. I remember when the film was released there were many critics who couldn’t understand why this prestigious director wanted to work with Adam Sandler who at the time was only known for his “Dumb Fun Comedies”.  To me that sort of thinking is a perfect example of the kind of truly lame dry world that cinema inhabits right now. That’s why the Oscar’s are always boring; it seems like having fun or making people laugh isn’t “deep” enough, whatever the hell that means.  I understood right away why Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to work with Adam Sandler. I love “Billy Madison” and “Happy Gilmore”.  They are dumb fun movies that you don’t have to take seriously yet still deliver. Especially “Happy Gilmore” which is now a classic in the “Dumb Fun Comedy” genre.  Adam Sandler’s performances in those films are perfect and make those films work. From his moments of rage that make you laugh, to him dancing up the stairs in “Billy Madison”, Adam Sandler is a very unique performer with childlike innocence in his demeanor. All these ideas appear in "Punch Drunk Love" except it’s a love story built around the perfect kind of character for Adam Sandler’s gifts, an outsider with anger management issues who has not yet found his place in society. In the scene where Barry apologizes to his brother in law for destroying his glass doors, he admits to not knowing how other people are. 

The importance of making a connection, disconnection, trying to stand out and finding your identity in life are some of the themes at hand throughout “Punch Drunk Love”. Barry Egan is a character that had no place in the world. He doesn’t get along with his family and even wears a great blue suit to work because he thinks it will make people take him seriously, which winds up being a terrific joke in the film as everybody asks him “Why are you wearing that suit?”  Early in the film we watch Barry creep out into the world, he looks afraid and if you know how the world really is, he has all the right to be scared. He looks outside his shop and watches a car flip over in a horrible hellish manner. Next a taxi comes out of nowhere and drops a harmonium on the street. Now that’s a brilliant scene. Who knows what will appear before us on the road of life. I love watching that moment when Barry Egan walks over to the harmonium, gives it a good look over and then quickly finds the right moment to kidnap it back to his office; it’s like watching a kid filled with fear go through with a daring moment excited by the promise of a new adventure. That’s one of the film’s great gifts; it announces our fears but acknowledges the fact that the things we love in our lives must be stronger than our fears.  What a beautiful idea to capture since fear never dies but only changes as we get older.

Fear of not being accepted, fear of being alone are some of Barry Egan’s problems in the beginning of the film. His sisters call him weird and “Gayboy”. He thinks he should speak with a therapist. This is a person who does not understand the world around him and has probably isolated himself to the point where many people will not accept him. Barry gives a chance to some of the problem solving companies in America by calling a sex hot line and gets taken advantage of. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the few directors truly telling American stories. Barry’s problem is an American problem. With this film he is taking us to the dark places brought on by American isolation. What do you do in your valuable free time in a place like America? What if you had no friends? Taxi Driver and this film have a lot in common.  Barry Egan found love; Travis Bickle did not and went crazy. Love can truly save someone from madness. The world as we know it was not built with our best interest at heart. Some things will not make sense to us and other things will not seem attractive to us, even if it makes sense to 100 million other people. Some people will eventually find themselves on the outskirts of the American Dream; Barry Egan is one of those people.

I get a sense throughout the film that Barry doesn’t know how other people are because he truly cannot comprehend America’s façade. In the film Barry is literally trying to pull one over on the “THE MAN” by purchasing a substantial amount of pudding to receive enough frequent flier miles so that he will never have to pay for an airline ticket again. Of course when he tries to turn the pudding in, the company tells him it will take 6 to 8 weeks to process.  In that scene Barry Egan loses it and punches the American map behind him with all his might. Throughout the film we see the colors of Red, White and Blue in that exact order. Another scene has his sister saying one of the most famous American oxymoron sayings “So what, it’s a free country”. On their first date Barry tells Lena that he loves a radio personality named “DJ Justice” because he is not a phony and tells it like it is. America is very much in this film, which makes sense because Barry’s problems are American problems. In a country like America some people will have difficulty being perceived as “normal” and what will these people do? Only love can save them. Love does not require understanding. You could know 10% about a person and fall head over heels for them. After years of emotional beatings from his sisters to society (PUNCH DRUNK) Barry meets Lena, someone who accepts him for who he truly is and he falls in love. His love for her will be stronger than most, after all those beatings he knows how hard and rare it is to find someone who accepts you for who you are. He’s found someone to admit his faults to (I love that scene when Barry admits to Lena that he “Beat up the bathroom”) with no worry about being judged. That sort of love will change your whole life. You will worry less about the world’s problems and your union will become like a PLACE. That’s why I love that shot after Barry and Lena’ first date; when they're walking to the car, a moving truck passes with the words: “Relocation at its best!” on it, I agree.  That’s how powerful love is, it can turn people into places. I have said many great things about this film and still have yet to mention the terrific Phillip Seymour Hoffman performance or Jon Brion’s wonderful romantic score. I am truly Punch Drunk Love about this film especially after 2 decades of watching films. My brain was beaten to death with movies I couldn’t connect with.  Then this film arrives out of nowhere, it gets you, it speaks your language and it makes you fall in love with cinema all over again.


ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Mark L. Lester's Commando

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RUTZ Song: "Sea of so many things"

 Sometimes we are not aware that we are doing too much. Sometimes we can get lost and not even notice it. We change our minds all the time.

RUTZ Classic Movies: Brazil

Directed By Terry Gilliam

Line that stays with me: “There you are, your own number on your very own door. And behind that door, your very own office! Welcome to the team, DZ-015 ”

Essay Warning: There are no spoilers or story details. I want to offer the emotion that a film can access within us. Plus I think the best way to watch a film is by not knowing anything about it. Just Go In…So if you haven’t watched this film yet please don’t read this essay. Read it afterwards so we can enjoy the “feeling” together.

When hearts were entertained in June

We stood beneath an amber moon

And softly whispered 'some day soon'
We kissed and clung together

Then tomorrow was another day

The morning found me miles away

With still a million things to say
Now when twilight beams the skies above

Recalling thrills of our love

There's one thing I'm certain of
Return I will to old Brazil

Brazil lyrics by Ary Barroso

The more I try to breakdown Brazil the more I come back to the song that inspired it. It is the only real answer to a film full of questions. Are things really that bad? Isn’t life all about “Promotion”? As people we all stand in different groups when it comes to standard of living and facing our society with unwavering honesty. One person will look at some of the miserable conditions all around this country and say it should not be like this. Another will look at the same conditions and say that’s the way things are, let me live my life. My life filled with promise and promotion. Brazil deals heavily on this terrible battle always at hand when living in this industrial world. In our search for happiness we constantly take detours, usually when we cannot perceive what is at hand or endure while trying to keep a roof over our heads. You take a chance. You want to live and dive into a journey where you will experience a breakthrough during some life changing moments when everything comes together just right. The song refers to Brazil more as a memory than an actual place. A time when everything came together and you didn’t have a worry in the world. Grabbing a moment and living it to its fullest potential. Brazil is just that. A film done with extreme care of the once in a lifetime kind, as if the film director believed “well if this is my last film, at least I made Brazil”.

The song romanticizes the idea of once in a lifetime moments. Lasting memories, which is all Sam Lowry is left with by the end of the film. In the beginning of the film I wonder, what has Sam Lowry been up to all these years? How long has he been dreaming? Coming into work late didn’t seem to be a big deal, so he was obviously comfortable with his bitter lifestyle. It didn’t bother Mr.M. Kurtzmann, Sam’s boss played by Ian Holm in a performance that will always make me laugh especially when he says “What a pathetic creature I am”. That is the stunning achievement of this film; it can make you laugh one minute and cry the next. Terrific ideas, scenes and performances all going in various directions that it would be shortsighted to treat it as some other classic movie with a grand message, even though it has one of those too.

Brazil is a satire. A very funny one, I forget sometimes because I get very excited about the overall collection of ideas on display. While I’m watching the film, I’m usually laughing and screaming. The performances all worked out to make sure you laugh and somehow take it seriously as well, a very tightrope to walk. That sort of tension is established early in the film when a poor family’s peaceful night turns into an absolute nightmare due to an error from the Ministry of Information. The breadwinner of the household, Mr. Buttle, gets arrested in a horrifying manner by the totalitarian government; they even crush the family’s Christmas tree. Still at the end of that scene I find myself laughing to the “and here’s my receipt for your receipt” dialog.  That’s Brazil magic; it offers various sensations, laughter, suspense, appreciation, shock, sadness and realization.  Ideas in performances and composition thought out for years. Terry Gilliam’s dedication to his production’s strange wonderful mix of George Orwell’s 1984, Fellini and Film Noir (plus he’s a Monty Python member) is omnipresent. Making everything come together like he has made admirers of Brazil remember the film like some great day in which they try to remember every detail. Others can’t get over the devastating ending.  Some viewers do not get it at all. People who love Brazil just love it. Maybe because it deals with subjects other films ignore. In Brazil our hero comes to the conclusion that the system he works for is worse than he thought. That he was part of a system that got an innocent man killed and near the end of the film was trying to kill the girl of his dreams. Not many films decide to be that honest with us and respect our intelligence to find our way around.

Who was Sam Lowry? A man that wanted to fly, a man who wanted to be left alone in pathetic peace before succumbing to the lifestyle of the people around him. His job had a perfect structure, his boss desperately needs him on the day to day and he did not want promotion. Living to dreaming or waiting to escape it seems. Sam’s co-workers also want to escape. They’re usually watching classic films when they should be working, one day they’re watching Casablanca, another film that deals with a memory of a great romance and a couple trying to escape. Sam Lowry was a man who gave up on finding meaning and was not attracted by anything his society was offering. Only in his dreams did he find hope. I love watching those magical dream sequences. The score floating us along as our hero flies high above everything he knows, free with all the time in world. The same beautiful woman constantly appears in our hero’s dreams.  Now put yourself in Sam’s shoes and think about that. What if tomorrow you bumped into a person you’ve been dreaming about for years? I don’t know about you but I would think it means something. I would have to speak to that person or feel like I missed out on something beyond me. (I think the dream idea itself is a direct homage to Fellini who was said to get most of his best ideas from his dreams.) Sam is put in that position except he’s in love with his dream girl. When Sam Lowry sees Jill Layton for the first time, his whole life changes, he wants to know her so bad he’s willing to get promoted.

People not facing reality is a major subject in Brazil. Sam asks his friend Jack Lint, “How are things going?” Jack says great, wonderful. Later you see him quarrel with his wife.  Sam’s mother never wants to face the fact that she is an old woman. Throughout the film we always see her with the plastic surgeon Dr. Jaffe (hilariously played by Jim Broadbent) who says one of funniest lines in the film “I’ll make you look twenty years younger”. Instead of admitting that they’ve made a mistake the Ministry of Information decides to kill a pestering witness.  Sam never wanted to face reality but like most of us he was forced to. When Sam’s dream girl Jill becomes enemy of the state, he no longer decides to hide behind his hollow facade. Sam puts his life on the line for her when he kidnaps her out of the Ministry of Information building.  The following sequence with Sam Lowry begging his dream girl to trust him and the adventure that ensues afterwards is a beautiful testament of Terry Gilliam’s vision. You can enjoy the sequence simply as is, which is funny, exciting and moving and you can also breakdown the sequence to enjoy its rich subtext. The sequence begins like many courtships with a man asking a woman to trust him. Just like in real life (a woman that respects herself) Jill doesn’t make it easy for him and by the end Sam is hanging on for dear life. Afterwards the couple is fine until they run into turmoil down the road and find themselves in a situation where they say “we have to lose the house”. I do not think for a second that Terry Gilliam was just trying to be funny when he put that line in there.

Brazil’s glory is always there to be discovered. A film that begs us to dream again and live life to the fullest before it is too late. Sometimes we forget that because the film is so damn funny and offers fantastic imagery. We end up nerd gazing about the production which is always interesting in every way possible.  From the “retro-futurism” production design layered with comical ducts to amazing dolly shots, great makeup, top notch performances and the possibility that you could always find something new when you watch it. In my last viewing I saw the letters M.O.I. (Ministry of Information) imprinted on Mr. M. Kurtzmann’s coffee mug and several other accessories on his desk. The attention to detail in Brazil sometimes makes you treat it more like a painting than a film. We keep watching it to find things we might have missed and to our amusement we usually do. Plus it has Robert DeNiro as a hero in Sam’s bureaucratic world saving Sam from first world problems saying “We’re all in it together”. Still I never forget that harrowing scene with Mrs. Buttle screaming “What have you done with his body?” That scene always reminds me of the heart of gold at the center of this film. That scene with its tears of rage and injustice truly hits home and makes people who understand that pain fall in love with this film.

We want to do so much in our lifetime. The older you get the harder it is to accomplish some of the things you want to do. Brazil always leaves me with that feeling of hope and simple truth, that in order to accomplish great things we must act upon them.  Some viewers may have wanted a happy ending but that would have destroyed the film’s idealism with romanticizing great moments in our lives.  At the end of the film when Sam Lowry is dreaming that some revolution is going to come save his life, to me that moment is the same delusion as people in the autumn of their years grand hope to win the lottery. In desperate times, we all hope to be saved. I can still remember the fever in 2008 when a large majority in this country believed Obama was the answer to all our problems. That’s what makes the ending of Brazil so brilliant, the minute you start to believe that Sam might make it out OK, (even though nothing in Sam’s reality points in that direction) you discover a great lesson about seeing things as they truly are, that’s Mr. Gilliam being honest with us as people. Honest enough to say no you are simply dreaming. Change is not going to be that easy. For Sam Lowry it was too late. For some of us right now it is too late. I think of Sam at the end of the film not only as a tragic hero but as a synonym for anyone of us in a retirement home near the end of our lives. All we will be left with is our memories. Our great “Brazil” like moments when we truly lived. In the world we live in we are promised strife. If we want to majorly change things in the world we inhabit like Sam Lowry tried to do, we will encounter tremendous grief. Terry Gilliam was simply being honest with us. We will all be gone like Sam Lowry is at the end of the film. That is an important fact to remember as we go rushing through our days. In life we are usually trying to feel a certain way again, to recapture a sort of greatness. Sam Lowry found his through loving Jill. It can be anything creating art, raising children, the path that makes you feel free. All I know is that when you find that path, your life will be changed forever. You will spend the rest of your life trying to either keep that feeling or find it again. Poor Sam only had one night with his love and then you have some people who say “High school was the best time in my life” (I do not think that’s a good thing but it makes sense that people would say that.) Thus once again I go back to the song, which romanticizes the great moments in our lives and glows in the reverence that maybe one day I won’t be able to go back to that place and time, so I better enjoy it while I can…..Or continue to fight in order to return to “Old Brazil”.

When hearts were entertained in June

We stood beneath an amber moon

And softly whispered 'some day soon'
We kissed and clung together

Then tomorrow was another day

The morning found me miles away

With still a million things to say
Now when twilight beams the skies above

Recalling thrills of our love

There's one thing I'm certain of
Return I will to old Brazil


ABOUT RCM: Rutz Classic Movies is dedicated on writing film essays for films that in Rutz's opinion, have not gotten the credit they deserve. Next Essay: Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love

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