In Brazil, who directed the 1985 dystopian film about low-level clerk Sam Lowry?

Terry Gilliam directed Brazil, the 1985 dystopian film about low-level clerk Sam Lowry.

Brazil follows Sam Lowry, a bureaucrat trapped inside a vast and inefficient government system. A clerical error leads to the wrongful arrest and death of an innocent man, while Sam’s attempts to correct the mistake draw him into a wider struggle involving surveillance, paperwork, terrorism accusations, and authoritarian control.

Gilliam’s direction combines dark comedy, retro-futurist machinery, expressionist production design, and surreal dream sequences. Jonathan Pryce played Sam, while Kim Greist played Jill Layton, the woman who appears in Sam’s recurring fantasies and becomes connected to the bureaucratic injustice.

The film’s release history was unusually contentious. Universal Pictures initially wanted changes to the ending and a shorter version for the American market, while Gilliam supported a darker cut. Different versions circulated, making the film’s ending and running time common subjects of discussion among viewers.