yes i have seen brazil and it is one of my favourite films. gilliam is one of my favourite directors and he is aware of myth and its meaning.
eg, who is jonathan pryor fighting in his dream: the giant oriental warrior: who unmasked is himself. brazil is one of those rare films that makes you feel...uneasy, unanchored: reality becomes more difficult to grasp as the film goes on. ironically it is our reality!!!! as we get a fuller description (yes a comic, caricaturised description but an accurate description nonetheless) of this reality as the film progresses, we become less and less comfortable with it. it reminds me of Kafka: what starts out as a comedic surreality slowly begins to hit some hidden nerve (mythic resonance) and in doing so reveals the TRUTH. changing tack i think the anarchist issue is very interesting. i mean in the spanish civil war you have a country voting for anarchism: democratic anarchism i suppose. but as this means the expropriation of wealth and property from the (ex) ruling elites, what happens? civil war. the anarchists are beaten down with a lot of help from hitler and stalin. what i am getting at is the impossibility of top-down anarchistic change. spain is the perfect example. in an eduacted society the great majority of people may decide they want anarchism - because it is intellectually superior to all political systems - but it can't be established POLITICALLY...for the reason i have just outlined. no the only way is through individual spiritual/psychological evolution, leading to a gradual depletion of POLITICAL reality. bleed the giant dry, and the rest will take care of itself. the giant has to die, and the giant is part of us: the ego. this is a mythic universal: dying to oneself to be reborn. there can be no transformation of consciousness without death. this is an example of the orphic myth which is paralleled in all traditions. you can't escape death ian. i don't get your point. or are you saying you don't want to see this social model of reality end? our society is insane, totally fucked man. isn't that obvious? do i need to make a list? point is society is never going to fix society; it can't - political change is not the answer. only the individual can transform society; how? by transforming himself, by transcending the social locus of control - the ego. > Intersting Gav, I've not seen the film, but probably > will try to on > the strength of this. Your summary of the theme from > the mythos is > convincing ... > > "The theme is choice. To choose to act from the > creative centre, > rather than to react from habit or fear." > > Where I might call you out though is > > > > > the prevailing current of modern history, > > which is the current of nihilism, of > meaninglessness? > > > > Don't get me wrong that is a common theme or > artistic commentators to > illustrate alternatives to that (potential) > dystopian future, and I > share the same fears. What I disagree with (not just > in this thread) > is the impression you give that such a path for the > continuation of > modern history is inevitable - "the knowledge of our > certain death" as > you put it. Surely by understanding it (as you do) > the point is to > change it, or make change possible for others, > rather than simply > "escape" ? > > Have you seen Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" - your > reference to the > anarchists' intrusion into the mundane world rang > bells with me. > Ian > moq_discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
