THE CURBSIDE CRITERION: BRAZIL

“This is your receipt for your husband…and this is my receipt for your receipt.” That has to be the blackest black humor line in cinematic history, at least in my view. It’s certainly one of my favorites.

Terry Gilliam’s eternally classic film Brazil makes its debut on 4K Ultra HD this month, delivering picture quality that improves on the prior Blu-ray (also included here) in various small ways. His movies really are worth rewatching in higher definition than the last time you saw them because he throws so many little things into every scene.

In the case of Brazil, it’s the various ways the machinery of its ominous bureaucracy operates: the computers with their magnifying glass screens, the bowels of Sam Lowry’s apartment laid bare in the form of endless tubes of ducts, the squished fly whose demise kicks off the “Buttle or Tuttle” confusion that carries the storyline.

Do I need to recite the plot? I don’t think so, since I’m sure you likely want to know two things if you’re reading this review: is the improved picture quality worth the upgrade (yes, but maybe not if you have a mid-range setup), and are there any new bonus features?

On the second point, the answer is “No,” although this film has enjoyed an embarrassment of riches going all the way back to that wonderful three-disc DVD set issued by Criterion two-plus decades ago. I never got into Laserdiscs, though, so I don’t know what those editions of this film contained that may not have made their way into the modern home video world.

The 2012 Blu-ray release of Brazil actually lost a few things from that three-disc DVD edition, namely some of the images from a stills gallery that was pulled into existing featurettes and the photos and bits of text that were part of the We’re All in This Together: The Brazil Screenwriters featurette. They’re not huge losses, but if you’re a completist (I am when it comes to this movie), you may want to hold onto those DVDs.

The extras kick off with a commentary track by Gilliam that dates all the way back to 1996 but is still worth a listen, especially since so many of the themes the movie deals with are still issues in the year 2025. Does ICE give receipts when they disappear people these days?

The rest of the extras are found on the second Blu-ray, starting with the infamous 94-minute “Love conquers all” version that former Universal CEO Sid Sheinberg demanded because he thought it would help the movie become a success at the box office. I have to confess I’ve never watched it all the way through, unless you count listening to the great optional commentary by writer David Morgan.

If you don’t know about Gilliam’s battle with Sheinberg over this movie, which culminated in him going rogue and screening his cut for a bunch of critics who subsequently wrote glowing reviews that forced Sheinberg’s hand, then you’ll want to head straight to the The Battle of Brazil: A Video History documentary, which runs nearly an hour and lays bare the whole struggle. And I have to give Sheinberg props for doing an interview for it.

Also included are the featurettes What is Brazil? and The Production Notebook, which run 30 minutes each and cover the territory you’d expect them to cover from their titles. Members of the cast and crew offer their thoughts, and David Morgan pops up again too.

The original trailer for Brazil rounds out the platter, and the obligatory booklet features the essay A Great Place to Visit, Wouldn’t Want to Live There by critic David Sterritt. It’s the same booklet as the one found in the 2012 Blu-ray edition, except the technical information has been updated to reflect the new 4K restoration that was supervised and approved by Gilliam.

– Brad Cook (@BradCWriter)

Citerion Collection; Brazil; Terry Gilliam