Brazil just gives you a different experience that you don't get from most science fiction films. The fact that the time is confusing helps you focus more on the actual story and what is going on on-screen. When Sci Fi is used to predict future outcomes it must meet a certain amount of standards that we have today. The Matrix creates a futuristic world where us as humans have been betrayed by our own ingenuity (the machines). This becomes somewhat grounded as even today we can see ourselves relying on technology more and more. This leads us to believe the new world and how it still is a possible future for us. What Gilliam does with Brazil is create an entirely new world. We can recognize various elements but for the most part everything is completely different from what we are used to now, let alone anywhere in the 20th century. This allows us to fully suspend our belief and accept that this world is different and plays by its own rules, making the movie more of an immersive experience. Star Wars used pretty much the same thing through the establishment of the time being long long ago, but all futuristic tech we see we accept because it is also far far away, i.e. its own place with its own rules.
You say the opposite of what your classmates seem to say (they claim the references to the past make the world MORE more familiar, less new). But let's say you have it right--it makes the world even less familiar to us. How does that make the movie more of an "immersive experience"???
ReplyDelete