"Brazil" definitely includes ideas and images from both the book and the film of "The Trial". It also loosely follows the storyline of "1984" (indeed, the original title was supposedly "1984 1/2"). The whole film is full of little references to other films, in keeping with Terry Gilliam's tendency to stuff the frame with a bit of everything.
I remember seeing "Brazil" when it first came out and being completely blown away. It doesn't see, quite so fresh any more, with so many parts of it being lifted by others (one even hears the song fairly often!), but it's quite an accomplishment. With the mixing of elements from throughout the 20th Century, "Brazil" was made to keep the viewer off-balance from the first frame, and a century from now, I suspect it will still have the same effect.
It would have been interesting indeed if Gilliam had had the budget (or at least modern CGI) to make the film as originally scripted (full shooting script can be found in "The Battle Of Brazil"). Large sequences were left unfilmed which would have added still more layers to the story. On the other hand, if everything had been filmed....I expect the result would have been four hours long.
If anyone has not had the chance and can find a way, do get a copy of the European cut or the Criterion version of "Brazil". It's 12 minutes longer than the American cut (largely due to the removal of two scenes which aren't that big a deal), but the overall pacing and the number of little "tidbits" that were snipped from the American version are a delight to discover.
The last resort of one who cannot think is to argue that another cannot feel.
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