Empty Allusions: A Case from Brazil

January 21, 2008

Toward the end of Brazil (1985/1999) by Terry Gilliam there is a battle scene, with harsh looking storm troopers from the Ministry of Information Retrieval trying to stop the exit of a band of rebels. In the midst of this battle a small duct-machine is sent cascading over a staircase. The scene is quite brief but reminiscent of a famous scene in Battleship Potemkin in which a baby carriage rolls precariously down a large bank of stairs.

In his audio commentary to the scene from Brazil Gilliam calls this an homage to Battleship Potemkin.. and then dismisses its significance: "I'm sure there are many film societies that read into that a lot, but it's really me just fighting boredom." So this direct allusion to another film is just for fun. Viewers recognize it, and perhaps derive some pleasure from that recognition, but the allusion provides no direction for understanding either the scene or the film as a whole. We could label it an empty allusion.

I don't mean to come down on the use of an empty allusion. It is worth noting the existence of these authorial motions. Wherever we find a sophisticated audience with a deep knowledge of a particular genre, we are sure to see the use of allusions to past canonical works. These allusions will vary in purpose and use. On the one side we can place allusions that go far in placing the film and guiding the viewer to a specific reading of the work. The first thing that pops into my head is the use of Fellini's 8 1/2 in Stardust Memories by Woody Allen. To understand the latter film it is almost essential to know the former. On the other side we can place allusions such as this one in Brazil. It has no directive purpose but is there only to give a moment of pleasure to the viewer.

I have a tendency to like artists that are very careful with their use of allusions. One of my main issues with Brazil is the way it oversignifies and leaves the viewer with the impression that there are a lot of "deep" connections being made.. when really we are talking about connections made on the fly. As I was just re-watching the commentary and searching for what Gilliam had to say about the Battleship Potemkin scene, I came across his explanation of the scene in which Sam Lowery attends his mother's funeral and sees a vision of her entertaining some younger men. Lowery calls to his mother and when she turns around it is Jill, the woman he loves. Gilliam immediately laughs away the Freudian connections and tries to provide a more ordinary way of understanding the scene. But by playing around with strong Freudian overtones he is tossing out to viewers what could be a bewildering interpretive framework. In my estimation that cavalier use of allusion muddies his work.