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| A mysterious graphic with an ominous mass of closeups of the same boy makes up this dark poster for Franklin J. Schaffner's The Boys From Brazil |
In the late 1960s, Ezra Lieberman hunts slippery Nazi war criminals. In Paraguay, Dr. Mengele, one of the worst Nazi mass-murderers of WWII, lives in relative hiding. But when a young Jew records his ambitious and mad plan to kill 94 men the world over, a puzzling challenge and a deadly game starts for the aging, but resolute Lieberman.
The Boys From Brazil is written by Heywood Gould (Rolling Thunder (1977)), adapting the same-titled 1976 novel by Ira Levin's (Rosemary's Baby (1968)), and directed by Japanese-born American master filmmaker Franklin J. Schaffner (The Stripper (1963)), whose 10th feature it was. Levin's fantastical premise is basically the cloning of 94 baby Hitlers. The idea is played dead-serious in the film, and in that way it succeeds in being incredibly frightening.
Staging such a grand, international thriller/murder plot as the one we get here (even with a science fiction element) must be a dream job for most any director, and Schaffner seems to have enjoyed the job and challenge of the endeavor. It certainly is an enjoyable and very entertaining film to watch. It is somewhat reminiscent of Marathon Man (1976), also with Laurence Olivier (The Betsy (1978)), who plays Lieberman here, but in a diametrically opposite kind of part.
Brazil does have a few problems: Some of the European accents of its Hollywood stars grind some in the ears at times, and Gregory Peck (The Omen (1976)) is almost too nice play the infamous monster Dr. Josef Mengele, but nevertheless is still is enjoyable for a fan of him as I.
Olivier, on the other hand, is majestic as the Nazi hunter based on the real McCoy, Simon Wiesenthal, whom Olivier met with and talked to about the part and Wiesenthal's life.
For the film, Jerry Goldsmith (Total Recall (1990)) created an amazing score.
SPOILER The ending in which vicious German shepherds attack two of cinema history's biggest actors is phenomenal, and the film has lots of good supporting roles as well.
The Boys of Brazil stands like a marble pillar in the annals of international thrillers. A solid, great film.
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Franklin J. Schaffner: Top 10: The best biopic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Papillon (1973) or, Devil's Island Indeed
Cost: 12 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 19 mil. $ (North America alone)
= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 3.33 times its cost)
[The Boys From Brazil premiered 19 August (Honolulu, Hawaii) and runs 125 minutes. Olivier was paid 725k $ for his performance, which was reportedly his motivation for taking the role, as he was returning from serious illness, adamant that he would provide for his wife and children, should he pass away. Shooting took place from October 1977 - March 1978 in Portugal, including Lisbon, England, including London, Austria, including Vienna, and in Pennsylvania. The film reportedly grossed 19 mil. $ in North America. Details of its international numbers are regrettably not available; only it did sell 91k tickets in Denmark, a tidy number that indicates that it was likely popular abroad as well. A 40 mil. $ world gross is projected, which would rank the film a box office success. It was nominated for Best Actor (Olivier), lost to Jon Voight for Coming Home; Editing, lost to The Deer Hunter, and Score, lost to Giorgio Moroder for Midnight Express. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Schaffner returned with Sphinx (1981). Olivier returned in A Little Romance (1979); Peck in The Sea Wolves (1980); and James Mason (The Sea Gull (1968)) in Murder by Decree (1979). The Boys From Brazil is fresh at 70 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Boys From Brazil?
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