In the dystopian surveillance state future/present of Brazil, a fatal printing error leads to the violent arrest of innocent citizen Archibald Buttle instead of rogue air conditioning repairman Archibald Tuttle (played with vigour by Robert De Niro) and sends low-level Ministry employee Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) on a journey into the dark heart of bureaucracy. Sam escapes the dull grind of reality through fantasies of himself as a winged warrior saving a beautiful damsel in distress, so when he encounters the real-life woman of his dreams in the form of truck-driver Jill (Kim Greist) he allows himself to be drawn into a dangerous world of rebellion. Marked as dangerous anti-government activists and dodging random terrorist attacks and sinister Ministry agents, Sam and Jill must find a way out of the labyrinthine city closing in around them.

Terry Gilliam's masterwork is a Kafkaesque vision of an all-too-plausible retro-futuristic world, brought to life with his characteristic visual flair and wit. His struggle to get the film released with minimal studio interference has become the stuff of legend (including renegade pirate screenings and downright threatening ads in trade magazines), and while it's hard to believe they ever doubted this classic Brazil was truly unlike anything else in the mid-80s landscape of escapist blockbusters. The dazzlingly inventive visuals, absolutely stacked cast and Michael Kamen's unforgettable score all work to create a thrilling fable with a grimly prescient core.