ASMSG Scifi Fantasy Paranormal Emagazine April 2015 | Page 13

Need I describe any furthur how icky this is?

make.'”

However, in Brazil, it’s a bit creepier. Sam Lowry, the main
character of Brazil, has daydreams about saving a beautiful
redhead, Jill. At the end of the movie, his mother (played by the
amazing Katherine Helmond has plastic surgery which makes
her look exactly like Jill. Freud would have a field day. The
viewer is left to wonder if Jill ever really existed or if she was
simply a projection of Lowry’s oedipal feelings about his mother.

CONCLUSION

3. WE’RE ALL SLAVES

Jupiter’s character has a similar story arch to Sam Lowry. Both
are stuck in jobs they hate and dream of escape. Lowry is a lowlevel bureaucrat. Jupiter cleans toilets. While Brazil shows there is
no escape from dehumanizing technology, Jupiter Ascending is a
battle cry to the 99%. It demonizes the wealthy who live for
millenia on the fuel of a humanity grown like a crop to feed their
needs.

4. IT’S A WEIRD HOT MESS

So is Jupiter Ascending as good as Brazil. That’s really impossible to
say right now. Many of Gilliam’s movies have been disastrous at
the box office. However, time has been especially kind to them.
They are movies that are impossible to forget. They linger at the
back of your mind urging you to watch them over and over.
Perhaps the same will be true for the Wachowskis Like Gilliam,
they have had a rocky relationship with Hollywood. However,
it’s important to remember that Hollywood has a history of not
supporting movies that turned out to be legends.
I’ll leave you with a quote directly from Lana Wachowski herself:
“There were tons of movies that made a lot of money and were
utterly and completely forgotten. Likewise, there were movies
that didn’t make money that are still around and are still
important and relevant.”

Like Brazil and Time Bandits (another of Gilliam’s classics) there
is a lot going on in Jupiter Ascending. Some people will say there’s
too much. Even though Brazil is now seen as a cult classic, many
reviewers hated it when it was released, including Roger Ebert.
Jupiter Ascending has the same hectic pacing, creating a dream-like
quality to large sections of the film. Like any Gilliam film, it will
require several viewings before you catch everything here.

5. RELEASE PROBLEMS

Jupiter Ascending was all set for a 2014 release when it was
suddenly and surprisingly pulled. In some ways this worked in
the films benefit. A year ago most people did not know who
Eddie Redmayne was. Now he’s up for an Oscar (although truth
be told his performance is the single worst thing about this
movie).
Gilliam struggled to get Brazil released in the U.S. because the
studio didn’t like the ending or the message of the movie so they
edited th