Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a 1985 surrealistic gem, finds an "Everyman" hero living in a bizarre dystopian society that has given up all personal liberty and privacy because of a sweeping fear of terrorism. Police and paramilitary forces carry out the orders of a harebrained bureaucracy that has lost all sight of morality and honor. Part comic tribute to 1940s and 1950s film noir, part send-up of high-tech science fiction, part eccentric parody of obsessive romance, it barely lights on one clairvoyant vision of 21st-century life before it takes off in search of another appalling example of future human misbehavior. The movie is filled with violent, intense, and gory scenes, including torture, explosions in public places, bloody bodies and body parts, gunfire, and oppression of civilians by vast numbers of faceless police-state troops. Because of that violence, and because of the film's black comic tone, hilarious characters, and often profound (and profoundly funny) sequences, the movie is best for only the most mature or sophisticated teens.
Sexual
Content
A scantily dressed character is seen in black stockings and a garter belt. There is kissing. Two characters seen in bed together, presumably after sex. Some sexual innuendo in dialogue.
Violence
With black comedy abandon, mayhem and violence reign in numerous sequences. Masked (read "faceless") military and police forces intimidate the population frequently: chasing, shooting, capturing, generally wreaking havoc upon the innocent. The hero is tortured. Gunfire erupts, people fall. Buildings collapse and catch fire. Explosions kill multitudes -- bloody bodies and body parts fill the screen in several scenes. Masked men and baby-faced monsters attack. Many chases, wild rides, attacks by armored vehicles, people on fire, cars blown up.
Language
Occasional coarse language, including "s--t," "f--k," "damn," "bastard." Excrement is sent through a vacuum tube to flood two men in hazmat suits.
Social
Behavior
A 1985 warning about the possible loss of individual freedom and privacy due to communal fear -- in this case, prophetically, the fear of terrorism. Other far-sighted notions: super-dependence on imperfect technology, people becoming desensitized to extreme violence, and honor and morality corrupted by exaggerated dangers. Several comic warnings included as well (excessive plastic surgery, addiction to romance).
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Characters drink alcoholic beverages in a few social situations. The heroine smokes cigarettes.
