EPISODE THREE
DYSTOPIA
Films Discussed
Brazil
Dredd
Punishment Park
Runtime 1:50:00
Link to Itunes: My Movie's Better
Brazil
| Brazil | |
|---|---|
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Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Terry Gilliam |
| Produced by | Arnon Milchan |
| Screenplay by |
|
| Starring | |
| Music by | Michael Kamen |
| Cinematography | Roger Pratt |
| Edited by | Julian Doyle |
Production
companies |
|
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox(International)[2] Universal Pictures (North America) |
Release date
|
|
Running time
| 143 minutes[5] |
| Country | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[7] |
| Box office | $9.9 million (North America)[8] |
- Jonathan Pryce as Sam Lowry. Pryce has described the role as the highlight of his career, along with that of Lytton Strachey in Carrington.[17] Tom Cruise was also considered for the role.[18]
- Kim Greist as Jill Layton. Gilliam's first choice for the part was Ellen Barkin; also considered were Jamie Lee Curtis, Rebecca De Mornay, Rae Dawn Chong, Joanna Pacuła, Rosanna Arquette, Kelly McGillis, and Madonna.[19] Gilliam was reportedly dissatisfied with Greist's performance, and chose to cut or edit some of her scenes as a result.[19]
- Robert De Niro as Archibald "Harry" Tuttle. De Niro still wanted a part in the film after being denied that of Jack Lint, so Gilliam offered him the smaller role of Tuttle.[20]
- Katherine Helmond as Mrs. Ida Lowry. According to Helmond, Gilliam called her and said, "I have a part for you, and I want you to come over and do it, but you're not going to look very nice in it." The make-up was applied by Gilliam's wife, Maggie. During production, Helmond spent ten hours a day with a mask glued to her face; her scenes had to be postponed due to the blisters this caused.[21]
- Ian Holm as Mr. Kurtzmann, Sam's boss.
- Bob Hoskins as Spoor, a government-employed heating engineer who resents Harry Tuttle.
- Michael Palin as Jack Lint. Robert De Niro read the script and expressed interest in the role, but Gilliam had already promised the part to Palin, a friend and regular collaborator. Palin described the character as "someone who was everything that Jonathan Pryce's character wasn't: he's stable, he had a family, he was settled, comfortable, hard-working, charming, sociable – and utterly and totally unscrupulous. That was the way we felt we could bring out the evil in Jack Lint."[22]
- Ian Richardson as Mr. Warrenn, Sam's new boss at Information Retrieval.
- Peter Vaughan as Mr. Helpmann, the Deputy Minister of Information.
Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan described the film as "the most potent piece of satiric political cinema since Dr. Strangelove".[13]Janet Maslin of The New York Times was very positive towards the film upon its release, stating "Terry Gilliam's Brazil, a jaunty, wittily observed vision of an extremely bleak future, is a superb example of the power of comedy to underscore serious ideas, even solemn ones."
Dredd
| Dredd | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Pete Travis |
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by | Alex Garland |
| Based on | Judge Dredd by John Wagner Carlos Ezquerra |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Paul Leonard-Morgan |
| Cinematography | Anthony Dod Mantle |
| Edited by | Mark Eckersley |
Production
company | |
| Distributed by | |
Release date
|
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Running time
| 95 minutes[1] |
| Country |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $30–45 million[3][4] |
| Box office | $41.5 million[5] |
- Karl Urban as Dredd:
A famed and feared Judge.[6] Producer Allon Reich described Dredd as "an extreme character, and he administers justice with an extreme lack of prejudice". Urban approached the producers about joining the film. He found the role challenging because the character never removes his helmet, requiring Urban to convey emotion without using his eyes. He viewed the character as an average man with an insanely tough job in a fragmenting society and likened Dredd's heroism to that of a fireman.[7] The role also demanded physical preparation; Urban undertook intensive physical training to become a "beast of a man".[8] He also underwent weapons and technical training to learn how to operate under fire, arrest criminals and breach doors. He insisted on performing his own motorcycle stunts for the film. He played Dredd with a raspy and harsh vocal tone akin to "a saw cutting through bone", which he found difficult to sustain.[7] - Olivia Thirlby as Cassandra Anderson:
A rookie Judge and genetic mutant with powerful psychic abilities.[9] Anderson can sense the thoughts and emotions of others.[10] Thirlby contrasted her character with Dredd's "black and white" perspective, describing Anderson as existing "in a grey area where everything is enhanced or clouded by the fact [that] she knows what is going on in the very interior of a person". She undertook weapons and combat training, learning to perform a roundhouse kick to make her believably physically commanding. The character was partially inspired by singer Debbie Harry.[11] - Lena Headey as Madeline "Ma-Ma" Madrigal:
A former prostitute turned drug lord and criminal kingpin who is the sole supplier of Slo-Mo, a new and addictive drug.[12] Headey's performance was inspired by punk-rock singer Patti Smith. Reich described the character as someone who does "not care at all about what anybody thinks or feels and she will do, and behave, as she wants".[13] Headey said: "I think of [Ma-Ma] like an old great white shark who is just waiting for someone bigger and stronger to show up and kill her ... she's ready for it. In fact, she can't wait for it to happen ... She's an addict, so she's dead in that way, but that last knock just hasn't come."[14] Before Headey's casting, the character was described as a heavily made-up, scarred and obese older woman.
Darren Franich said that the film is a "darkly funny blood-soaked romp" and singled out Urban for his "credibly wry performance using little more than his gravelly, imitation-[Clint] Eastwood voice—and his chin."[89] The Guardian's Phelim O'Neill scored the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised Urban's performance, saying, "The essence of Dredd is that he is almost an anti-character—he doesn't change or learn—and Urban nails it in an ego-free performance". He also wrote, "In a world of compromised adaptations, Dredd is something of a triumph."
Punishment Park
| Punishment Park | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
| |
| Directed by | Peter Watkins |
| Produced by | Susan Martin |
| Written by | Peter Watkins |
| Starring | Carmen Argenziano Harold Beaulieu Jim Bohan Stan Armsted Paul Alelyanes |
| Music by | Paul Motian |
| Cinematography | Joan Churchill Peter Smokler |
| Edited by | Terry Hodel Peter Watkins |
Production
company |
Chartwell
Francoise |
| Distributed by | Project X Distribution |
Release date
| 1 January 1971 |
Running time
| 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $95,000 |
- Mark Keats ... Mr. Hoeger President of the tribunal
- Gladys Golden ... Mrs. Jergens
- Sanford Golden ... Sen. Harris
- Sigmund Rich ... Prof. Hazlett
- George Gregory ... Mr. Keagan
- Katherine Quittner ... Nancy Smith
- Carmen Argenziano ... Jay Kaufman
- Mary Ellen Kleinhall ... Mary Ellen Mitchner
- Stanford Armstead ... Charles Robbins
- Patrick Boland ... accused
- Kent Foreman ... accused
- Luke Johnson ... accused
- Scott Turner ... accused
- Norman Sinclair ... member of the tribunal
- Paul Rosenstein ... member of the tribunal
Punishment Park was shot in 16mm with a skeleton crew of eight people and only one Eclair camera. The set was extremely minimal, using only a tent enclosed within a larger tent for the interior scenes. The rest was shot on location at the El Mirage Dry Lake in California. It took only two and a half weeks to shoot. The "newsreel" quality of the film was enhanced by desaturating the color and removing the traditional hard edge of the image through the use of Harrison diffusion filters. The total production cost was only $95,000, including a transfer from 16mm to 35mm.
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