Frequently Asked Questions

5. What is the title Brazil supposed to mean?

Certainly, Brazil is an enigmatic title for a movie that seems to have nothing to do with the country of Brazil. The first-draft screenplay was entitled The Ministry of Torture, or Brazil, or How I Learned to Live with the System - So Far, and Gilliam also considered calling his screenplay 1984 1/2. Many of the drafts appear to have simply been titled "The Ministry." In the book The Battle of Brazil, Gilliam explains where the inspiration stemmed from, while he was in Port Talbot, Wales:
     "Port Talbot is a steel town, where everything is covered with gray iron ore dust. Even the beach is completely littered with dust, its just black. The sun was setting, and it was quite beautiful. The contrast was extraordinary, I had this image of a guy sitting there on this dingy beach with a portable radio, tuning in these strange Latin escapist songs like 'Brazil.' The music transported him somehow and made his world less gray."
      Sid Sheinberg didn't like the title, and had the Universal staff submit suggestions for a new title. These suggestions included the titles:

• If Osmosis, Who Are You?
• Some Day Soon
• Vortex
• What a Future!
• Litterbugs
• The Works
• Skylight City
• You Show Me Your Dream...
• Access
• All Too Soon
• Chaos
• Where Were We?
• Arresting Developments
• Lords of the Files
• Dreamscape
• The Staplegunners
• Progress
• Forever More
• Nude Descending Bathroom Scale
• Day Dreams and Night Tripper
• The Right to Bear Arms
• Explanada Fortunata Is Not My Real Name
• Disconnected Parties
• Blank/Blank
• Erotic
• Shadow Time
• Maelstrom
• Forces of Darkness
• The Man in the Custom Tailored T-shirt
• Fold, Spindle, Mutilate
• Can't Anybody Here Play the Cymbals?
• Sign on High
• The Ball Bearing Electro Memory Circuit Buster
• This Escalator Doesn't Stop At Your Station
• Gnu Yak, Gnu Yak, and Other Bestial Places.

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Brazil FAQ Copyright © 1994 - 1998 David S. Cowen.