Do you think the ending of Brazil was happy? (may contain spoilers)

I mean, on the one hand, the good guys lost. On the other hand, Sam's in living in a happy fantasy.

That's going to have to be a big no, if the world is so terrible that insanity is the only escape that's not exactly a good ending.

“Is totalitarianism really so bad if the lobotomized guy is humming?”

I meant specifically for Sam. To be fair, it seemed like the movie was trying to be iffy about it, which isn't surprising since it combined political horror with satire so well and so much.


I have a theory, though. Sam's dreams of adventure are a main theme, and he gets so obsessed by them that his actions partially lead to his eventual insanity. Here's my theory. If the story continued, eventually, the governmental power will be so much that people will go insane temporarily and riot in the streets, including bureaucrats.



At least if I directed the movie, I would definitely include that.

It had nothing to do with the country. A worthless film!

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Yeah, it's a resounding "no" from me, and it really doesn't make a difference if Sam thinks he's happy in his delusion. Gilliam's goal was to build a story where going insane was the only way to have a "happy" ending and he succeeded. The fact that everyone else who is either equal to or above Sam's status within the system blithely accept (or perpetuate) its horrors while he is constantly confounded by it (to say nothing of the victimised and powerless lower class) only adds to that same growing insanity (and also counters the idea that more people would follow Sam's lead), especially when active dissenters like Tuttle are so incredibly rare.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

A massive no.

There are two versions (at least) and two different endings. One was made by the studios and the ending was saccharine sweet and I hated it. The European cut which is much longer, had a very sad ending.

There is the theatrical edit (132 minutes), which has the sad ending, a "Love Conquers All" silly edit (94 minutes), which has the silly ending within which they escape, and a Director's Cut (142 minutes) which has more (pretty good) footage which helps to flesh out the ending and which keeps the original sad ending.



While the ending is sad, it is perfect. There is no other way to end it that would have been nearly as good. The fact that she dies and that he goes insane puts the perfect cap on the ultimate fight against the mad machine.



As a note, Brazil is my all time favorite movie. I love it to death.

Aye if ignorance is bliss an all that, I find that whole film a nightmare... makes other dystopias look like utopias