Brazil Trailer (1985)

(Cropped, double click to view in YT)

This is the trailer to Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" is the story of Sam Lowry, an office jobsworth in a retro-futuristic society. While keeping his head down by day, he is a dreamer by night. He eventually meets the girl in his dreams and the two become enemies of the state when mistakenly linked with a series of terrorist bombings.

The first 60 seconds of the trailer introduces sams character in a rather clever technique. The comments from other characters in the film suggest that Sam leads a rather unfulfilling life with lots of wasted potential, much to the discomfort of his family and peers.

However, the interspersed shots of Sam riding in his car are a complete contrast to the monotony of his worklife. The smile on his face suggests Sam's total disregard for his job situation. The music (Ary Barrosso's Brazil) suggests that Sam is content nonetheless, in see's the world in a more positive light than others.

After this 60 second introduction, the trailer fades from b/w into colour at the precise moment Sam meet's the girl of his dreams. This suggests that the monotony of his life has been lifted, and the world has now been filled with colour.

Shortly after there is a love scene, with interspersed shots of Sam's bizarre dream sequence in which he is a winged superhero. Personally, I think this part is far too long as it effectively lasts 42 seconds - with no dialogue, narration, or narrative clues. Frankly, I find it boring.

The love scene is finally interrupted by the forced entry of the swat-team style law enforcement. They burst through the window, lower through the ceiling on wires etc. This part of the trailer sums up the totalitarian state in which Sam lives and suggests Sam has been accused of wrongful doing.

 Here the music (still Brazil) picks up pace and the trailer gains rapid momentum as the edit becomes increasingly dramatic. In typical trailer fashion, the final part of the trailer makes use of all the "big budget moments" of the film including explosions, special effects and stunts. Again I find this style of editing a little dull as it is widely conventional, I don't belive such conventions should be used to promote a film as experimental as this, however I guess trailers must serve their purpose to cater to the masses.

Inbetween this madness, there are a few snippets the films more bizarre scenes, such as his mothers facelift, and sections of Sams dreams featuring brick-monsters and samurai warriors. I feel that these seemingly random and unrelated clips are purposefully placed to give the viewer a taste of the films madness.

In contrasts to this action sequence, the film ends on a high note as the music is cut. An amusing line from one of Sams' friends rounds off the trailer nicely before the title is displayed and the music is resumed.