Brazil: The Evolution of the 54th Best British Film Ever Made

Brazil is regarded as Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece. The genesis for Oscar nominated screenplay to the film lies in a faded notebook in Terry Gilliam’s attic. It began life in 1977 when Gilliam was working on the Jabberwocky. He had had in his mind for years an image of a totalitarian state, an image of a superficial society where dreams have become scarce. He retired to a cottage in Wales for a month with Jabberwocky screenwriter Charles Alverson and created a 150 page screenplay which, eight years later he and Tom Stoppard used as the blueprint for the final film. previously undisclosed fantasy sequences, plot lines and characters. The original script is wonderfully biting. It also has some of the most eccentric characters in all of cinematic history. In addition to the full, restored, previously unseen screen-play, the book includes an extensive foreword chronicling the beginnings of the project, featuring extracts and sketches from Gilliam’s notebooks and includes new in-depth interviews with both Terry Gilliam and Charles Alverson talking for the first time about his contribution to the movie. With its huge cult appeal this is a fascinating insight into the evolution of a modern movie classic.