Many films have dystopian settings, but few have the truthful sting of Brazil. Join me as I look over the various ways that Brazil speaks to the concerns of modern audiences.
Bureaucracy
One of the main themes of Brazil is how the system’s excessive administration has dehumanised the residents of its world. People are imprisoned and tortured because of faulty information passed through so many departmental layers that no one bothers to check or take responsibility for. The administration then shields itself from consequences because responsibility is obscured at every turn by the administration, which is segmented and deliberately alienating. The system views people as paperwork, numbers, and codes to be shifted around and dealt with according to official parameters.
You can easily see how it parallels modern stories about the failures of bureaucracy. Think of the numerous people on universal credit or PIP in the UK. Claimants have to navigate a web of forms, meetings and requirements to get the necessary funds to live on. Only to be hit by sanctions that most of the time are overturned. A huge number of which are overturned based on already available information. So long as claimants submit themselves to the time-consuming appeals process. There’s also the hive of bureaucratic failures that enabled the Windrush scandal. These cases paint a picture of ordinary people being impacted by bureaucracy that sees them only as points on a page, with the system then making it difficult for them to seek justice.
Surveillance
Additionally, Brazil showcases a vast surveillance state that constantly keeps track of all its citizens. It records and can access supposedly private phone calls. Security cameras litter the landscape. Programmes allow bosses to keep track of what their employees are doing and there is a massive database full of everyone’s personal information (among other things).
Of course, living in a post-Snowden world, in which it is known that government departments spy on their own citizens in various invasive ways, the world of Brazil feels truly prophetic. CCTV is now also a prevalent part of everyday life. Plus the sheer amount of modern methods that employers use to keep track of employee workplace activity, makes Brazil’s dystopic vision feel quaint by comparison. Apps and monitoring software keep track of employee activity on phones and computers. Scanners time employee activity on the job and devices even monitor the time employees spend at the desk.
Security & “Prosperity”
Beyond the broader themes, Brazil has many details that add to its contemporary feel. There are implications in the story that the government uses the terrorist threat to justify infringing on people’s privacy. Though notably, it does not make people any more safe. All of this sounds very familiar to the actions taken by the US after 9/11 as well as the UK’s supposed anti-terror measures like Prevent. The use of militarised police along with a system which forces wronged people to pay for the damage incurred by the police has also been seen in the US.
We see people like the Buttles ground down and living in cramped accommodations in neglected areas. A problem many working-class people can relate to. Consumerism is rife. Absurd adverts push newer, better pipes and goop has taken the place of prepared food. Which is not far away from fast food, despite what airbrushed promos try to sell us, and other adverts encourage us to upgrade everything. Along with this posters tell people to suspect others and anti-immigrant bile is still found on the streets which all feels right at home in 21st Century Britain.
Sci-fi or Political Cartoon?
Elements like the constant surveillance, the justifications given for the way things are, heavy-handed punishment and the importance placed on money show a society concerned with rigid adherence to a system that most benefits only those closest to the levers of power. Meanwhile, dissent and those seen as less important are dehumanised through the mountains of bureaucracy, state paranoia and racist attitudes. Leading to a world in which those framed as ‘undesirable’ are removed while many are kept disenfranchised with little but dull consumption for comfort. Brazil’s nightmare commentary holds so much resonance it could have been released yesterday.
