Bradley Heimowitz

Dystopia in Global Cinema

Dr. Gournelos
Paper 2: 1984 and Brazil

Abstract:
The country that I chose for this year was Britain. For my first paper I did a
textual analysis of a scene from the British zombie spoof, Shaun of the Dead. In paper
two I am doing a comparison between the two films: 1984 and Brazil. Both of these
movies have very similar aesthetics, social aspects, political commentary, and uses of
dystopia. Along with the connection between the main characters, the respective
governments in each story are extremely similar and, in general, the plot and overall feel
of the stories are dystopic to the viewer.

Brazil and 1984 are two British dystopic films. The main characters in both
movies Sam Lowry and Winston Smith, are protagonists. They both have a totalitarian
government watching every move they make. 1984 was written by George Orwell at a
time in history when people were extremely afraid of governments having too much
power. According to Abbot Gleason, 1984as a product of the latter 1940s, (that time
of widespread disillusion on the Left), of the onset of the Cold Ward, of the period in
which the concept of totalitarianism was coming into widespread use (Gleason, p.145).
The two characters each have secret romances, which ultimately get both of them into
trouble. When Winston and Sam get into trouble with their governments, they are both
tortured. It is interesting to compare Gilliams Brazil because it is based off of Orwells
1984. In his 1985 film Brazil, Terry Gilliam redeploys several scenes from Nineteen
Eighty-Four that reflect the multiple facets of Orwellian dystopia, a State system of
Terror which unremittingly seeks control over the lives of its citizens (Erickson, p.4).
This paper conducts a comparative analysis between the two movies to examine the
aesthetics, social aspects, and what purpose dystopia serves.
Both of these films have a protagonist as the main character. Both Winston Smith
in 1984 and Sam Lowry in Brazil do not fit the role of the classic hero, but are essentially
the antihero who both work for their fascist government. Orwells representation of
Oceania is incoherent, and its self-contradictions cluster, symptomatically, around its
figuration of the middle-class Outer Party and the struggle for freedom of its middle-class
protagonists, Winston Smith (Resch, p.139). The paths that these two antiheroes take,
leads them to similar ends.

The lives that both Sam and Winston live are dramatically comparable in both of
their stories. They both live in very similar conditions, residing in tiny run-down
apartments. The main difference is that Sam doesnt have Big Brother watching over
him, but the level of fear caused by fascism between the two isnt that different. In
addition to both characters living in small homes, they both hold boring, middlemanagement type jobs working for their governments. Winston Smith works in the
Ministry of Truth, which controls the news, and Sam Lowry works at the Ministry of
Information in the Department of Records, which controls history. It is obvious that these
two men are not allowed to complain when they are at work, and they do not feel the
need to be promoted or strive for more responsibilities. Sam Lowry actually says to his
mother that he doesnt have any dreams or aspirations, and he definitely does not feel the
need to be promoted to a better job. Both Sam and Winston feel they will be safest if
they continue to do their assigned jobs, and avoid making waves at work.
Both films share similar aesthetics. In 1984, the film is shot with very poor
lighting, which makes the movie so dark that it almost seems like it is a black and white
film. Most of the film is shot indoors, which allows it to have very little exposure to
sunlight. The film has very few windows, and even the window that Winston has in his
apartment is always being watched because a helicopter hovers outside looking inward.
The characters are very pale, do not use any makeup, and everyone wears the same onepiece jump suit. I believe that the one-piece jump suit is supposed to represent prison
uniforms because criminals in jail have to wear something very similar. Citizens of
Oceania are essentially prisoners of society because they cannot escape Big Brothers
control or move forward in life. The furniture in Winstons apartment is very plain, and

only has the basics. Outside in Oceania where Winston lives, the streets are basically
filled with rubble and garbage, and it looks like a war zone that has never been cleaned
up. The movie shows that everyone basically eats the same food due to food rations, and
the citizens of Oceania have really no option or variety to choose from.
Brazil shares similar aesthetics. The film is mainly shot indoors, which makes the
film darker because there is not much sunlight. Sam Lowry works in an isolated small
office and similarly, Buttles home is very grey and depressing. The buildings overall are
very large and intimidating blocking out any view of the sun or sky. Sams apartment is
very mechanical with plenty of gadgets, and does not seem to have any personal items,
such as family photos or books. Some of the characters wear very similar clothing. Just
like in 1984, the air-conditioning repairmen also wear the one-piece jump suits. When it
comes to food, it seems like the characters do not have many options either. Even the
food in the fancy restaurant all seems the same, because each item is served in three
scoops of mush on a plate and does not have any color variety. The military and police
officials all wear the same outfits too. Sam Lowry wears a business suit, along with the
other men who work in offices. So while there is little variety in clothing in Brazil,
characters have no options because their attire is based on their job.
Both films share similar social aspects. Both films have large separations
between the social classes. In 1984, almost everyone is of the working class. Citizens of
Oceania barely make any money and are considered equals, although there are a few
people who seem to have more power, such as OBrien and other government officials.
But most people do not have much freedom, and they are forced to show respect to their
government or else there will be terrible consequences. According to Resche, the

introduction of class and class-based values into the model creates an interesting
asymmetry between socialist class relations, where the middle and working classes are
allied, and totalitarian relations, where party dictatorship is associated with a ruling class
of the leader and the party elite, and state power with a middle class of bureaucrats
(Resche, p.149). There is a scene where many people are packed inside a theatre. This is
not for entertainment purposes like watching a movie, but instead it is a propaganda rally
to show support for their government and Big Brother. The family unit becomes extinct
in this film. It is basically forbidden to have any relations in their situation because the
characters are always being watched, and the way that these people live their lives, it
would be hard to have a family. The implication is that having a romantic relationship
would be cheating on Big Brother.
There is very little free time for the characters in 1984. Because Winston is
always being watched and it is illegal for him to think because it would be considered a
thought crime, Winston has to sit in the corner of his room in his apartment to write in his
journal. He sits in the only part of his room that cannot be seen by the camera.
Occasionally, Winston is able to go to the very run down, Chestnut Tree Cafe that only
serves Victory Gin. He notices people playing chess as their form of leisure because
there is not much freedom in his world. The other way Winston is able to escape is when
he goes to the antique store and spends four dollars on a paperweight. It is odd that he
has a form of currency in his pocket because everything seems to be provided by the
government, and money does not seem to have any importance in this society.
In Brazil there is a class struggle between the working class and the rich. Sam
Lowry is considered to be a member of the middle class, while his mother is rich and

wants him to be as rich as she is. She is determined to raise Sams social status by trying
to get him a promotion. We see that the mother is rich because she is constantly getting
plastic surgery to try and make her self look younger, and she socializes with other rich
women, who are identifiable by their clothing and large fancy hats. The working class
characters in the movie include Buttle and Tuttle, along with the air conditioning
repairmen, who all wear jump-suits or plain clothes.
Brazil and 1984 share more common aesthetics than they do social aspects. What
is different about their social aspects is that in 1984, everyone is either a worker or a
government official, where as Brazil shows the working, middle, and upper classes. This
can be noticed by promotions within Sam Lowrys career. The mother clearly shows that
she is a part of the upper class because she constantly is getting face-lifts, where no
women in 1984 even wear makeup. In 1984, the citizens of Oceania all the people eat in
a common cafeteria together with no real food choice, where in Brazil, there are
restaurants with waiters wearing tuxedos and speaking with French accents.
These two films are very dystopic. In 1984, there is absolutely no privacy
because Big Brother is always watching you. Not only is he always watching you, he can
also listen to your thoughts. People live with the idea that there is a thought police and
they only want you obeying and idolizing Big Brother. This has the citizens of Oceania
living in constant fear of their authority figure. As referenced by Erickson, Images of
verticality, commented on by Pauline Kael in her review of Brazil (106), appropriately
convey the spatial disposition of a totalitarian state defined by a pyramidal, hierarchical
structure, in which power flows from the top. They mark both Orwells novel and

Gilliams film (Erickson, p.28). Both governments are examples of totalitarian

bureaucracies.
Another dystopic element in 1984 is when Winston gets caught having relations
with Julia and gets brought into custody by the government. While Julia is in Winstons
apartment, both are naked when a voice in his room tells them to stop what they are doing
and to put their hands on their heads and stand back to back. Winston and Julia were
never caught before, so they figured that they would get away with their relationship
again without being caught. When Winston is taken under custody, he is initially taken to
an isolation room, then he is brought to Room 101, which happens to be a torture room.
He is tortured to the point where he becomes brainwashed because there was no other
way out. In the last form of torture, Winston is placed in a chair with rats in a cage
attached to his head. This scares Winston so much, that he gives in and eventually
respects his government.
Brazil also shares dystopic aspects. Similarly to 1984, citizens are always being
watched. When inside a government building, a moving robot with a camera is following
the characters every move. Sam Lowry is tortured by Jack in a chair just like Winston is
tortured by OBrien. Along with Julia being taken away in 1984, Jill is taken away from
Sams life. People in Brazil live with a fear, not as much as in 1984, but that the Ministry
of Information is the authority figure that you have to look up to and respect.
Winston and Sam both share a utopia. They are each able to create a fantasy
dream and escape the current situations of their nightmare societies. They basically put
themselves into a dream that is much brighter than the dark lives they live in. Winston is
able to smile and escape to a large meadow with a bright sun shining. Sam escapes into

something similar where he is flying at the level of the clouds with wings and armor.
These fantasies make Sam look like a combination between a superhero and an angel.
Both Winston and Sam, at least in their fantasy worlds, feel like they have protection
from the nightmare lives they live, and a sense of escape.
In both movies, romantic relationships are the reasons why both of the main
characters get in trouble. They both share this dystopic aspect because most would
imagine that romance is something of a utopia, but under the governments that they live
with, love eventually brings trouble. Also in both cases, the utopia is with a love interest,
which is when the men are most happy, and this is when the aesthetics shift most
dramatically.
The aesthetic shifts, which both movies share, are when Sam and Winston are
feeling romantic. The shift includes much brighter scenes that bring the movies from
depression to joy. The cinematography is much more colorful, especially in 1984, since
most of the movie is shot with very dark colors. Also, the sound goes from hard dreary
audio to more of a peaceful and quiet aspect. Every time Winston is able to escape reality
and enter his fantasy world, the audience hears different characters singing the old song
about the churches. When Sam is flying around above the clouds, the audio becomes
much more relaxed and has a slower tempo. The audio aspects in these two films are
important because most of the scenes are either depressing, dangerous, or both, and the
music reflects that well.
Examples of dystopia, which are dehumanizing, are in 1984 when Winston
performs exercises when he wakes up, and in Brazil when authority officials bombard
into Buttles apartment. In 1984, Winston is woken up in the morning by the large screen

in his bedroom that usually has Big Brothers face on. A lady calls out to group thirty to
forty, to perform their daily exercises. As Winston is struggling to bend down and touch
his toes because he is sick and coughing, the lady shouts, 6079 Smith W., bend lower.
This is dehumanizing because Winston, at this point, is being called out in front of this
whole group and he is embarrassed when he realizes he is being watched and publicly
humiliated for doing his stretch incorrectly. The lady on the screen even moves back to
show him to do the proper stretch. She goes on and says that we do not all have the
privilege of fighting on the front line, and also says what the soldiers have to put up with.
This is both dehumanizing and intimidating. Winston gets scared because he is told that
he is being watched because he was not conducting his exercise correctly. When an
authority figure calls a person out, it is dehumanizing because you assume that other
people are watching. Especially since the book of 1984 was written right after World
War II, to give someone a number shout out instead of a proper name address, reminds
the viewers of how people were treated during the Holocaust. Numbers were tattooed
onto Jews, homosexuals, and gypsies as a way to identify them because they had no
significance to the Germans at all.
Similarly, a dystopic scene in Brazil happens in the beginning of the film. Mr.
Buttles wife and daughter are sitting in the living room listening to Christmas music.
While minding their own business, all of a sudden, a huge hole is carved from their
ceiling, their door is kicked in, their window is broken, and many police officers storm
into their apartment. Immediately the police locate Mr. Buttle and strap him into a large
jacket that covers his whole body. The jacket is grey and covers his face and head. Once
he is zipped in, he is strapped in by chains like a wild animal. A government official

walks into the room that goes from dark to light, with a document stating the situation.
He reads, Mr. Buttle has been ordered to assist the Ministry of Information with certain
inquiries. He is liable to certain obligations. After, that man approaches Mr. Buttles
wife who is sitting in a chair crying. She is asked to sign the document he just read out
loud. She screams, Where are you taking him? as the man tells her to sign particular
parts of the document, ignoring her and not responding to her questions. While this
whole bombardment occurs, Christmas music is still playing in the background the entire
time. Christmas music is supposed to represent joy, which in this case is the complete
opposite because her husband just got taken away in a straight jacket. This is a complete
nightmare and shock, not only for the Buttles but also for their neighbor Julia, who lives
in the apartment upstairs.
I chose these two films because they share the same idea of an authority figure
looking down on society. I was attracted to the creativity of the fantasy worlds that were
created along with the ways the filmmakers created these scenes, both visually and in
audio choices. London has always had a reputation of being a cold and cloudy city, so
using 1984 and Brazil fit well with the idea of darker dystopic scenery. These movies are
trying to warn the audiences that political control by governments can be too powerful for
its own good and that fascism is a real danger to the happiness of any society. Both films
use utopic romantic fantasy as the main contrast to the dystopic plots.

Word Count: 2,876

Bibliography:
1. Erickson, John. "The Ghost in the Machine: Gilliam's Postmodern Response in
Brazil to Orwellian Dystopia of Nineteen Eighty Four." Utopian Studies 4.2
(1993): 26-34. Print.
2.

Gleason, Abbott. Totalitarianism in 1984. Russian Review 43.2 (1984): 145159. Print

3.

Resch Paul, Robert. Utopia, Dystopia, and the Middle Class in George Orwells
Nineteen Eighty-Four. J-Stor 24.1 (1997): 137-176

On my honor I have not given, nor witnessed, nor received any unauthorized assistance
on this work
Bradley Heimowitz