Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.
love it!
This wonderfully imperfect movie is perhaps my favourite film of all time. It encapsulates everything I appreciate in film. The premise is unique in that it's a strange hybrid between Monty Python, Romeo and Juliet and 1984. This wouldn't be a coherent vision if we're not in the hands of Terry Gilliam. Gilliam manages to capture an emotional core to the story through Sam Lowry's search for love and meaning in the increasingly superficial world he lives in. There is something I find fundamentally endearing in a protagonist like Sam, a man not searching for successes or promotions, he just wants some escape and some value to his life. Jonathan Pryce is perfect casting for such a role. The world building that comes from this story too is remarkable. We of course have the iconic bureaucracy sequences that capture the absurdity and meaninglessness of Sam's workplace. However, there is a rich vein of social commentary that runs throughout the film. The sequences with Sam's mother are a
