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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Brazil?

Brazil?

by David Anderson|  January 8, 20232:26 pm| 108 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Politics

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What is happening in Brazil?

Is it a coup attempt, a coup dry-run or assholes breaking shit because they can?

Who should I be reading?

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Previous Post: « (Not) Cooking with Gas
Next Post: Local Races Open Thread: Senator Debbie Stabenow Will Retire in 2025 »

Reader Interactions

108Comments

  1. 1.

    MattF

    January 8, 2023 at 2:33 pm

    I’d guess similar to J6. Mostly assholes, some political, a few with a plan.

  2. 2.

    Kent

    January 8, 2023 at 2:36 pm

    The difference is that Lula is already president and Bolsonaro is currently eating KFC and living in a condo in Orlando.

    The only real question is how much violence and how much time it takes for the Brazilian authorities to bring this to an end

    I’m no Brazil expert, but I have to think that if the military was actually going to intervene on behalf of Bolsonaro a part of some kind of autogolpe, they would have done so when he was still president, not after he had packed up and fled the country.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 8, 2023 at 2:42 pm

    My friend/landlord is in Brazil right now. I’ve messaged him to ask what’s going on from his perspective (he’s American but lived in Brazil for years and is fluent in Brazilian Portuguese).

  4. 4.

    Steeplejack

    January 8, 2023 at 2:43 pm

    Nothing at the Times or Post as of a few minutes ago. Twitter search on “Brasilia” gets a lot of hits in Portuguese.

  5. 5.

    JohnC

    January 8, 2023 at 2:46 pm

    It’s on the top of the Guardian web site, and on CNN.

  6. 6.

    CliosFanBoy

    January 8, 2023 at 2:47 pm

    @JohnC: And on BBC.

  7. 7.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 2:47 pm

    Lula isn’t there, so it’s not an attempted coup.

  8. 8.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2023 at 2:48 pm

    “A January 6-style attempted coup”?

    To be fair, Latin America has a very long history of coups, popular and unpopular – so it’s more like our January 6 was an attempt at a Latin American style coup here.

    However, Bannon was stirring that pot, as he has been doing everywhere else with an extremely polarized political system and electorate.  Bannon, and the oligarch money behind him.

    The last I heard, Bolsinaro’s forces had entered Congress and the Supreme Court.  Police are using tear gas to try driving them back; it’s unlikely to work.  They’ll have to bring in heavier guns (metaphorically and literally).

    They’re sure to try going after Lula specifically, and that worries me even more.

  9. 9.

    JohnC

    January 8, 2023 at 2:53 pm

    BREAKING 🇧🇷: Bolsonaristas are invading Congress en masse in Brasilia. (ongoing Twitter thread)

  10. 10.

    PaulB

    January 8, 2023 at 2:54 pm

    Unless the military is involved, I would assume this is basically another January 6th occupation of government buildings. Ultimately pointless.

  11. 11.

    Barney

    January 8, 2023 at 2:56 pm

    Organised enough to target presidential palace, supreme court and congress at the same time. That’s worrying.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 8, 2023 at 2:58 pm

    Seeing as Bolsonaro has bolted to Florida with plans of going further east (Italy) my money would be on assholes.

  13. 13.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 3:02 pm

    Are the congress or Supreme Court members there in those buildings?  It’s Sunday.  Odds are good nobody in power is in any of those places?  I know Lula is in another city entirely.  If they’re just occupying buildings, that’s not going to do them much good.  Who they’re overrunning is a lot more important than where, and I haven’t heard answers to that yet.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 8, 2023 at 3:03 pm

    @JohnC:

    @CliosFanBoy:

    Was just the lead story on NPR.

  15. 15.

    Orange is the New Red

    January 8, 2023 at 3:04 pm

    This feels orchestrated to provide Bolsanaro with plausible deniability, since he’s so obviously not there. If it’s successful, I am assuming he’ll head right back.  If it’s not, then he can go wherever.

  16. 16.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2023 at 3:07 pm

    @Orange is the New Red: Pretty thin plausible deniability, imh,  unless he’s been using cutouts and burner phones for the last few months, which is certainly possible.

  17. 17.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 8, 2023 at 3:09 pm

    @PaulB: especially with the lack of any actual like… election certification stuff. Just your unfortunately bog standard political riot.

    My question is, how long until bolsonaro is hospitalized following an alligator attack?

  18. 18.

    hells littlest angel

    January 8, 2023 at 3:09 pm

    I hope Brazilian law enforcement shows us how it’s done.

  19. 19.

    CliosFanBoy

    January 8, 2023 at 3:11 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Actually that can be a good time for a coup. Seize the locus of power while the leader is absent.  (I used to study coups)

  20. 20.

    Mike in NC

    January 8, 2023 at 3:14 pm

    The media needs to ask NY Rep.-elect George Santos (or whatever his name is today) what’s going on so he can baldly lie about it

    It was reported that Bolsonaro arrived in Florida last week with several military officers, so it was just a typical vacation for a right-wing despot.

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 3:16 pm

    @CliosFanBoy:

    But that only works if you have a government to put into place there, not if you’re a bunch of rioters sitting in the congressional building yelling that you’ve voted unanimously that Lula is a doody-head.  The rest of Brazil’s government isn’t going to give a damn where these people are squatting in terms of who takes orders from who.

  22. 22.

    Carol

    January 8, 2023 at 3:24 pm

    The post has this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/01/08/bolsonaro-invade-congress-lula/

  23. 23.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 3:25 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Yes, a government is more than its buildings.  Right now, I am calling it a fascist riot, not a coup.*  I reserve the right to make a different call as things progress.

    *Neither is a good thing.

  24. 24.

    piratedan

    January 8, 2023 at 3:26 pm

    makes me hope that our own DOJ is ready to act and start dropping indictments.

    I understand that we’ve had to be patient, watching the continuous rampage of GOP behavior, enabled, if not rewarded by people under indictment/investigation is nauseating.

  25. 25.

    BlueGuitarist

    January 8, 2023 at 3:27 pm

    @hells littlest angel:

    my Portuguese is rusty but looks like a centrist member of congress tweeted that the police decided this was a good time to buy coconut water

     

    eta Andre Janones
    Policíais deixaramm a barreira e foram comprar água de coco em momento da invasão.
    Google translate says
    Police officers left the barrier and went to buy coconut water at the time of the invasion

     

    https://twitter.com/AndreJanonesAdv/status/1612178857213165571?cxt=HHwWhoCwqaCIzt8sAAAA

  26. 26.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 3:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Fair.  And to be clear, this could be a coup, but it would require things to be happening that we haven’t heard about yet, like separate groups grabbing Lula, or someone really important in those buildings that we don’t know about because we don’t know their government, or the military joining the rioters.  Unless we hear about such things it’s a riot, which like you say is definitely a bad thing.

    If I were to throw money at a wild guess, I would say these rioters think they’re sending a signal that will inspire the military and/or all Brazilians to revolt.  I know American conservative terrorists have operated on that belief repeatedly.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 3:32 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Maybe it’s dumbass coup.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 3:34 pm

    @Baud: No, that was last week in the House.

  29. 29.

    Barney

    January 8, 2023 at 3:36 pm

    This is serious enough that they may kill police officers:

    https://twitter.com/davidrkadler/status/1612170270122418176

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 3:39 pm

    @BlueGuitarist: Total coincidence!

  31. 31.

    Tom Levenson

    January 8, 2023 at 3:39 pm

    This thread shows a lot of seriously ungood shit happening in Brasilia. It suggests (among a lot of video from the action right now) that this is was organized/instigated from Florida.

  32. 32.

    Tom Levenson

    January 8, 2023 at 3:39 pm

    @Barney: Great minds…

  33. 33.

    Bill Arnold

    January 8, 2023 at 3:41 pm

    @CaseyL:

    However, Bannon was stirring that pot, as he has been doing everywhere else with an extremely polarized political system and electorate. Bannon, and the oligarch money behind him.

    “Bannon, and the oligarh money behind him” need to be destroyed. They are Fascists, including those oligarchs involved.. At a minimum their political influence needs to be zeroed out.

  34. 34.

    jonas

    January 8, 2023 at 3:41 pm

    @hells littlest angel:I hope Brazilian law enforcement shows us how it’s done.

    Unfortunately, a lot like American LEAs, most of them are rightwing chuds that tacitly, if not openly, supported Bolsanaro, so it’s not clear now how motivated they’re going to be to intervene here. (I also have no idea how security in Brasilia operates, whether its federalized, local, etc.)  The military is also very unreliable in this regard. I hope Lula and his cabinet stay safe.

  35. 35.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 8, 2023 at 3:42 pm

    David Adler

    @davidrkadler

    50m

    Replying to

    @davidrkadler

    BREAKING 🇧🇷: Evidence suggests that the Brasilia insurrection may have been planned in Florida. Secretary of Security for the Federal District is in the USA and recently traveled to Orlando — exactly where Jair Bolsonaro is currently staying.

    I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, this was a planned coup

  36. 36.

    jonas

    January 8, 2023 at 3:42 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Isn’t Bannon supposed to be in jail? How the hell is he still running around, much less orchestrating coups in Brazil?

  37. 37.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 3:43 pm

    @Tom Levenson: That first video suggests that it was like Jan. 6: a “protest” that became an insurrection.  Not clear what the military police are doing now.

  38. 38.

    Philbert

    January 8, 2023 at 3:45 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Though Lula won the Presidency, the right wing won the legislature. No telling of their inclinations.

  39. 39.

    Chetan Murthy

    January 8, 2023 at 3:50 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Wasn’t the Ayatollah Khomeini living in Paris around the time of the Iranian Revolution?  And he flew back when it had been accomplished ?

  40. 40.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 3:51 pm

    @Chetan Murthy:

    The Shah wasn’t.

    EDIT – I shouldn’t snark.  The point isn’t where Bolsanaro is, it’s where Lula is.  A crowd taking over buildings without taking people is a lot less of a coup than if they take the people they want to depose.

  41. 41.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 8, 2023 at 3:51 pm

    Here’s a disgustingly familiar sight

     

    BREAKING 🇧🇷: The Bolsonaristas have now invaded the floor of the Federal Senate. pic.twitter.com/eBR5Dv2XSl— David Adler (@davidrkadler) January 8, 2023

  42. 42.

    Bill Arnold

    January 8, 2023 at 3:52 pm

    @jonas:
    Don’t know, but this from October 21 2022 says that he was allowed to remain free pending appeal.
    Nichols cushioned the blow of the four-month jail term by opting to allow Bannon, 68, to remain free pending appeal, which is likely to push the issue well into next year and perhaps longer.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 3:52 pm

    Random reddit comment

    The Federal District governor is allied with Bolsonaro. He put as the Secretary of Police, Bolsonaro’s loyal Minister of Justice, Anderson Torres.

     

    The police is literally taking photos smiling with the terrorists. There was no blockades. Some even lead them towards Congress.

     

    And what a coincidence, Torres just went on a trip to the United States.

     

    Want to guess what state? Yep, Florida.

  44. 44.

    Ryan

    January 8, 2023 at 3:56 pm

    @Baud: Probably breaked KFC with Trump while they were there.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 3:58 pm

    I guess the other thing we need to watch out for is this inspiring MAGA people to ramp up their acts of terrorism here.

  46. 46.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 4:03 pm

    @Baud:

    If this was organized by Bolsonaro, that makes it weirder.  Right now it feels like an Underpants Gnomes Coup.  1). Rioters take over government buildings while the officials are gone.  2). …  3). Bolsonaro is president again!

    What am I missing?

  47. 47.

    Mike in NC

    January 8, 2023 at 4:05 pm

    @Chetan Murthy: That’s correct. A proper dictator (like Lenin and Saddam Hussein) makes sure the opposition is dead, not living comfortably in exile and waiting for a signal to come home. The Shah wasn’t smart enough to figure that part out.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:05 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    2 would have to be military support, which I guess we haven’t seen yet.  Otherwise, the intent may be more to make a “show of force” to intimidate rather than to actually achieve a coup.

  49. 49.

    ian

    January 8, 2023 at 4:06 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: They want the military to intervene, then restore Bolsonaro.

    It is crazy, but no one said these people are great strategic planners.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 4:08 pm

    @ian: They want the military to intervene, then restore Bolsonaro.

    The time for that was before the Lula’s inauguration.

  51. 51.

    ian

    January 8, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I refer you to the second line of my previous comment.

  52. 52.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Hard to plan coups over the holidays.

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 4:10 pm

    @ian: Indeed.

  54. 54.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    January 8, 2023 at 4:11 pm

    Where are the photos of the Brazilian MAGA Shaman, and is he wearing a thong?

  55. 55.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 8, 2023 at 4:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    The time for that was before the Lula’s inauguration.

    We’ll let you go down there and tell them that.

  56. 56.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 4:13 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: I don’t speak Portuguese.

  57. 57.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 8, 2023 at 4:17 pm

    @ian:

    It is crazy

    I know Jack all about the Brazilian military, so I guess I’ve hit my speculation limit.

  58. 58.

    Cameron

    January 8, 2023 at 4:18 pm

    The pictures I just looked at over at MSN aren’t encouraging.  One of them has a caption reading that protesters are clashing with police, but I didn’t see any police.

  59. 59.

    Cacti

    January 8, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    It’s a handful of dumbasses occupying empty buildings on a Sunday in the Federal District.

    Absolutely nothing going on elsewhere in the country.

    Lula is already sworn in and Bolsonaro and family have fled to Floriduh already.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Fucking Donald Trump, you know he is involved with this somehow.

    Dear Jack:

    Lock. Him. Up.

  61. 61.

    prostratedragon

    January 8, 2023 at 4:25 pm

    Their Former Guy entered this country on a diplomatic visa. Is it still valid in the face of any legalities?

  62. 62.

    Dangerman

    January 8, 2023 at 4:27 pm

    @hells littlest angel: Amen. The assholes want to fuck around, they need to find out, good and hard.

  63. 63.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2023 at 4:27 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Gods, yes. Please. NOW.

    Trump is providing a base of operations, technical support, and quite possibly funding (as a funnel for oligarch billions) for fascist insurrectionists all over the world.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:28 pm

    @CaseyL: C’mon.  While that wouldn’t surprise me in the least, let’s not treat speculation as fact the way that the Republicans do.

  65. 65.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2023 at 4:33 pm

    @Baud: Sure.

    It’s just like making off with classified documents and then not securing them, leaving them all over the place, so anyone who’s interested can have a look.

    He’s not actively helping Bolsinaro: he’s just letting him roam free around the compound, talking to and meeting with whoever he wants.

    Mob deniability.  Always.

  66. 66.

    AWOL

    January 8, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    @jonas: Garland.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:37 pm

    @CaseyL:

    Mob tactics are what make the mob hard to prosecute.  But I don’t want President DeSantis’s DOJ to treat speculation as fact, so I’m going to be consistent when it comes to our DOJ.

  68. 68.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 4:38 pm

    @AWOL: ​
      Please tell me this is snark.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 8, 2023 at 4:40 pm

    @Baud: Come on, if it’s in service of our side, everything is okay.  You know that.

  70. 70.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Of course, we’re the good guys.

  71. 71.

    Starfish

    January 8, 2023 at 4:50 pm

    The Brazilian Report
    @AllBrPolitics [Twitter]
    Same as above but on Mastodon instead of Twitter

  72. 72.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:53 pm

    @Starfish:

    I don’t know why but I really like mastodon’s interface more than Twitter’s.

  73. 73.

    Sanjeevs

    January 8, 2023 at 4:54 pm

    It’s over. 20 minutes after President Lula issued a decree turning Brasília security over to the Federal Government, they”ve cleared the fascists out of the government buildings. An arrest warrant has been issued for Brasilia Security Secretary Anderson Torres.

    https://twitter.com/BrianMteleSUR/status/1612203396945301504?cxt=HHwWgMDSydOc2d8sAAAA

    Brazilians doing this all wrong.
    Surely you flip the soldiers then work your way up over a period of years, or decades

  74. 74.

    Pontiou5Pilate5

    January 8, 2023 at 4:55 pm

    Sounds like its already over.  About 30 min after Lula decreed the military retake control they cleared everyone out. They also issued an arrest warrant for  Brasilia Security Secretary Anderson Torres. Lula just  spoke and was not fucking around. Called them out as the fascists they are and said everyone involved will be punished.

  75. 75.

    Starfish

    January 8, 2023 at 4:57 pm

    @Baud: There are many Mastodon interfaces, and these nerds make sure I know about many of them.

  76. 76.

    AlaskaReader

    January 8, 2023 at 4:57 pm

    Copy cat insurrection

     

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/23/brazil-bolsonaro-bannon/

  77. 77.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    I love the way we’ve made Brazil’s situation all about us.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    January 8, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    @Starfish:

    The ones I’ve seen have been good.

  79. 79.

    phdesmond

    January 8, 2023 at 4:58 pm

    @Barney:

    some of the rioters are dressed in Brazilian native disguises.

  80. 80.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    @Pontiou5Pilate5: Even the guys who just had to have their coconut water? :-)

  81. 81.

    Cacti

    January 8, 2023 at 5:14 pm

    @Baud:  Main character syndrome is real.

  82. 82.

    CaseyL

    January 8, 2023 at 5:17 pm

    @Sanjeevs:

    Good!  Lula not messing around is very good.

  83. 83.

    different-church-lady

    January 8, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    Welp, now we know why Bolsonaro was visiting Trump.

  84. 84.

    different-church-lady

    January 8, 2023 at 5:26 pm

    It’s not often you get a perfect 1:1 control in your democracy experiments, but here we are.

  85. 85.

    MobiusKlein

    January 8, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    @Pontiou5Pilate5:

     
    One big difference between Brazil 1/8 and US 1/6 is that Trump still controlled the military on 1/6

  86. 86.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 5:33 pm

    @different-church-lady: In Brazil, Lulu controls the military, right?

    In Brazil, this attempted insurrection came AFTER the new present was sworn in, right?

    Doesn’t look like a perfect match to me.

  87. 87.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 8, 2023 at 5:35 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Maybe Bolsonaro thought the military would ride to his rescue. He is former military I think

  88. 88.

    David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️

    January 8, 2023 at 5:42 pm

    News accounts say the insurrection was thwarted by heating engineer Harry Tuttle

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    @David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️: ???

  90. 90.

    PaulWartenberg

    January 8, 2023 at 5:44 pm

    It looks like a coordinated riot by the arch-conservative elements of the voting base, but without the focus of overthrowing the presidency or seizing control of the buildings.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/jan/08/brazils-presidential-palace-and-supreme-court-stormed-by-pro-bolsonaro-supporters-live

    It’s not the military staging it, but the state police.

    Brazil was a nice electoral flip away from a wanna-be dictator in Bolsonaro, but the election itself was close enough that Bolsonaro’s supporters are angry and conspiratorial the way the MAGA voters are here in the U.S. Lula’s not in a good situation in that country, not unless he gets a lot of economic relief to calm the population.

  91. 91.

    tECHIDNA

    January 8, 2023 at 5:45 pm

    @Baud: Considering that Steve Bannon uncontestably was advising Brazil’s TFG and their government, it sorta is.

    If it comes out that Bannon, Steve Miller, and the rest of the USA’s TFG Crime Syndicate were busy building the metaphorical scaffolding for the riots today, that makes this a whole ‘nother level of international incident that President Biden must comment on. And given that the Brazilian local law enforcement but not the feds were flipped (cf. https://balloon-juice.com/2023/01/08/brazil/#comment-8730751) — a rookie coup mistake — this definitely seems to be a foreign, likely Floridian production.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if President Lula brings Bannon up on criminal charges and requests extradition — and that will be a barrel of laughs. Can’t wait for Squeaker McCarthy to find a way to fuck this up too.

  92. 92.

    different-church-lady

    January 8, 2023 at 5:49 pm

    @WaterGirl: No, no, the point of the control is to have something to measure the variables against.

  93. 93.

    Steeplejack

    January 8, 2023 at 5:49 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    From the movie Brazil: “As Jack is about to start the torture, [Harry] Tuttle and other members of the resistance break into the Ministry, shooting Jack, rescuing Sam, and blowing up the Ministry building.”

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 5:52 pm

    @Steeplejack: Never saw it, thank you for the info!

  95. 95.

    different-church-lady

    January 8, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    @Steeplejack: Which, unfortunately, is just in Sam’s imagination, as he has had a mental breakdown. (Spoiler alert…)

  96. 96.

    prostratedragon

    January 8, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    @WaterGirl: From the movie Brazil, which I too was reminded of. Does Criterion stream the correct version?

  97. 97.

    Ken

    January 8, 2023 at 6:09 pm

    @Baud: I love the way we’ve made Brazil’s situation all about us.

    I’ve gone one better and made it all about me.

    (Actually I was napping, and slept through the whole thing.)

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    January 8, 2023 at 6:30 pm

    @Baud: All politics is personal.

    Everything is personal!

  99. 99.

    opiejeanne

    January 8, 2023 at 6:55 pm

    @Baud: Who are you on Mastodon? Because none of the Bauds I’ve spotted seem to be you.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 8, 2023 at 7:12 pm

    @different-church-lady: Except in the TV edit (made very much against Terry Gilliam’s wishes, and nearly released as the US theatrical version)!

  101. 101.

    evodevo

    January 8, 2023 at 7:23 pm

    @David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️: LOLOL

  102. 102.

    prostratedragon

    January 8, 2023 at 7:55 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: ​ It really matters which version you see. The only one I know for sure is correct is on dvd. Since that’s released by Criterion, I imagine their streaming service carries that version too. Since the plot ultmately involves torture and kidnapping activities drawn from real life, it was censored for a while.

  103. 103.

    David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️

    January 8, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    @prostratedragon: ​
      wiki has a good answer to that question

    The film was produced by Arnon Milchan’s company Embassy International Pictures. Gilliam’s original cut of the film is 142 minutes long and ends on a dark note. This version was released in Europe and internationally by 20th Century Fox without issue; however, US distribution was handled by Universal, whose executives felt the ending tested poorly.[28] Universal chairman Sid Sheinberg insisted on a dramatic re-edit of the film to give it a happy ending, and suggested testing both versions to see which scored higher.[50] At one point, there were two editing teams working on the film, one without Gilliam’s knowledge.[51] As with the science fiction film Blade Runner (1982), which had been released three years earlier, a version of Brazil was created by the studio with a more consumer-friendly ending.

    After a lengthy delay with no sign of the film being released, Gilliam took out a full-page ad in the trade magazine Variety urging Sheinberg to release Brazil in its intended version. Sheinberg spoke publicly of his dispute with Gilliam in interviews and ran his own advertisement in Daily Variety offering to sell the film.[52] Gilliam conducted private screenings of Brazil (without the studio’s approval) for film schools and local critics. On the same night Universal’s award contender Out of Africa premiered in New York, Brazil was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awards for “Best Picture”, “Best Screenplay”, and “Best Director”.[53] This prompted Universal to finally agree to release a modified 132-minute version supervised by Gilliam, in 1985.[15][54]

    The complete version clocks in at 2hrs:22mins. Accepting nothing more or less.

  104. 104.

    prostratedragon

    January 8, 2023 at 8:39 pm

    @David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️:  The full version was neither available on Prime when I checked nor shown on TCM the last time they ran it several months ago.

    ETA that as to general emotional tone there is nothing atypical there.

  105. 105.

    Citizen_X

    January 8, 2023 at 8:53 pm

    @opiejeanne: none of the Bauds I’ve spotted seem to be you.

    Nominated.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    January 8, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    @David 📢 Speaker 📢 Koch☑️:

    According to JustWatch, Brazil is available to rent from the usual streaming sources (but not Criterion). I checked Amazon Prime, and their version is the 132-minute version.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    January 8, 2023 at 9:43 pm

    @phdesmond: That sounds like the Boston Tea Party!

  108. 108.

    Geminid

    January 8, 2023 at 9:46 pm

    @CaseyL: Reports are that Bolsonaro is based at a house in the Orlando area now.

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