Lists
- ranked 11 in TV Cream's Top 100 Films
- ranked 33 in Cinema Fusion Movie Bloggers' Top 100 Movies
- ranked 37 in My Favourite Film
- ranked 54 in BFI 100
- ranked 83 in Chicago Tribune 100 Best Films of the Century
- ranked 83 in Empire 500 Greatest Movies (2008)
- ranked 162 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 175 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 177 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 194 in The IMDb Top 250
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
- one of TIME Magazine All-Time 100 Movies
- one of OFCS Top 100 Sci-Fi
Bizarre, retro-futurist dystopian drama (black comedy?) apparently developed under the working title "1984½", after both Orwell and Fellini. After a bureaucratic mix-up sees the wrong man seized by the secret police -- Tuttle, not Buttle; could've happened to anyone, just get the arrest receipt stamped and file the right form to get him back -- Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) pursues the woman of his literal dreams.
I understand neither the appeal nor the point. The production design is amazing, juxtaposing cramped, cluttered interiors with wide shots of enormous buildings reminiscent of Metropolis, but Lowry isn't a compelling character and his environment not a compelling satire. It reminds me most of 2000AD magazine, actually, and Judge Dredd in particular, but early Dredd's background social satire was a backdrop to violent action; Lowry is a creep. Gilliam's obsession with creative visuals comes, as usual, at the expense of substance.