Sam Lowry and the Laws of Infernal Dynamics

If Murphy’s Law was in the dictionary, its association word would be Sam Lowry. Sam Lowry lives one shit hole of a life in the film Brazil. Unlike a film where you feel bad for a character, watching Sam’s life play out just makes you cringe and want to look away. He not only has horrible luck, but he also is completely screwed up in the head. Together, these make his character unlikeable and the movie as a whole difficult to watch. He is easily preoccupied with his dreams and never takes a clear moment to focus on his life in the real world. However much of a “comedy” this film claims to be, I find it far from such. I rarely found myself even chuckling at his misfortune. Often, I was just cringing hoping to finish the film because it made me feel so incredibly uncomfortable. It was only the desire to understand how this movie could possibly end that kept me watching.

To open his part in the film, Lowry is called by his boss (who by the way is a completely pansy who cannot seem to do anything for himself for fear of the repercussions) after he is late for work. His alarm didn’t go off, of course, and the electricity in his house is on the fritz. And since the film is set in a futuristic tone, everything in his house not only uses electricity but also controls itself. For example, his alarm finally going off triggers the water faucet to turn on, the toaster to toast, and the coffee pot to make a cup. However, in accordance with the electricity being on the fritz, the coffee is unfortunately poured on the toast. Thus, when Lowry goes to eat his breakfast, it is a soggy mess. Again, this event does not even begin to describe the level of uncomfort of an audience member watching his pitiful performance as a human. Yet, this introduction does decently set you up for watching his life play out exactly how you would picture at this point.

Being the lazy scrooge that he is, Mr. Kurtzmann sends Sam out to do the dirty work of the ministry. He has Sam go and take a check to Mrs. Buttle as a refund for the overcharging of her husband. Although she is quiet as a mouse at first, Mrs. Buttle loses it on Sam, as any normal woman who just lost her husband would. To go along with his “bad news bears” likelihood, the Buttle’s son sees his mom losing control and comes in and kicks the snot out of Sam. Obviously the mistake wasn’t his fault, but he of course must deal with the repercussions of this madness, which includes setting his car on fire and taking his wheels.

I have yet to mention Sam’s desperation to escape reality. This guy can’t get a break in the real world what with everyone pinning their shit on him and tearing his life apart. So to get away from the drama of his life, Sam flees to his dream world, complete with the capability of flying and a dream woman. Needless to say, really REALLY weird dreams. And, although I consider them extremely difficult to comprehend, it works for him, which might be all that matters.

I really thought this movie had a crazy, fast-moving story and a lacking character development, which is what probably made it a more believable comedy. Whereas in a drama, I would want to feel bad for the character that gets the shit end of the stick, in this film, I just wanted to get away and not watch Sam’s life get derailed with no chance of altering his own future (mind you, my comments above barely scratch the surface of his misfortune). Unfortunately, he lived by the infamous “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” saying. However, he does get some relief in a somewhat comedic tone through his freaky dreams. As miserable as I felt watching this film and observing his character fail, watching him fly around with his Fabio-like hair and impressive swooning skills made it just a tad more enjoyable to watch.