Brazil

SAM

Well, she's my mother, not yours.

MATTHEWS

I won't be held responsible.

SAM

How long will she he away?

MATTHEWS

(darkly)

There are some who go to Dr. Jaffe's clinic who never come back at all.

Matthews unlocks Mother's door.

MATTHEWS

(to Jill)

You're not a professional, are you?

JILL

No, amateur.

SAM

(firmly)

Thank you, Matthews.

With which he ushers Jill through the door and closes the door in Matthews' face.

INT. MOTHER'S FLAT – NIGHT

SAM

Make yourself at home. Don't answer the phone or open he door to anyone. I won't be long.

JILL

Where are you going?

SAM

I'm going to pull some strings. It's our only hope.

JILL

Don't do anything silly.

SAM

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

JILL

Take care.

Sam goes.

INT. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL FOYER – NIGHT

Sam arrives at the Ministry of Information Retrieval reception It's late. GROUPS OF CLEANERS are operating cleaning machinery. Sam approaches the Desk Porter who is playing with the executive toy Sam gave him.

SAM

Excuse me, Dawson, can you put me through to Mr. Helpmann's office?

PORTER

I'm afraid I can't, sir. You have to go through the proper channels.

SAM

And you can't tell me what the proper channels are, because that's classified information?

PORTER

I'm glad to see the Ministry's continuing its tradition of recruiting the brightest and best, sir.

SAM

Thank you, Dawson.

Sam crosses the foyer, checks to see that Dawson is no longer watching him engrossed as he is with the executive toy, and slips past the lift which, at that moment, disgorges a leg-bandaged, be-crutched Lime who hobbles across the lobby without seeing Sam, who slips down the stairs which he knows lead to Helpmann's private lift.

INT. BASEMENT– NIGHT

Sam creeps along the corridor to the lift door – avoiding a GROUP OF SECURITY MEN who are singing carols in close harmony. ONE GUARD is conducting and giving instruction. They are all incredibly big and brutal looking.

CHOIR MASTER

(stopping them)

No, no, no, Arthur, you're going flat on that G. It's your breathing. Take a breath on the end. of the previous line, after Noel. Right, one, two, three.

The CHOIR begins singing again. Sam reaches the lift and looks at the small panel of letters set into the wall.

CLOSEUP of Sam's face concentrating.

He hears, we hear, a reprise of Mr. Helpmann talking to Sam in Mother's bathroom.

HELPMANN (V.O.)

Of course, Jeremiah was senior to me, but we were close friends, and I keep his name alive at the office every day. It's as though he's there speaking to me. "Here I am, J.H."

Sam is already typing the letters "EREIAMJH" into the keyboard. The lift judders and star s to ascend.

INT. MR. HELPMANN'S OFFICE – NIGHT

Sam steps out of lift into an ante-room. No-one is there. Tentatively he knocks on the connecting door into the office. No reply. He slowly opens door.

SAM

Mr. Helpmann? Are you there? Hello?

The office is empty. Sam looks around – not sure what he wants to do. He notices his Mother's picture on Helpmann's desk. He is just about to leave when his eye is caught by an elaborate computer console in a side room. It occasionally chatters away. Paper print-outs fill a large bin. Hesitantly Sam approaches it. Looking around to make sure the room is still empty he punches the On key and the machine lights up.

He cautiously pushes a couple more keys. The teleprinter machines have paused but one starts chattering now. He looks at the one which is busy. A CLOSEUP shows us the message coming through: "TOTAL – TOTAL –TOTAL – CAR 15 REQUEST FEEDBACK STATUS ON SUBJECT BENJAMIN GEORGE TROLLOPE – VAGRANT – DETAINED TERRORIST/SUSPECT/ASSOCIATE". This is followed by a code number. The teleprinter falls silent.

Sam returns to the keyboard and switches it off. He turns to leave. The teleprinter starts chattering again. Sam stops and goes back to it and looks at the page again. A CLOSEUP shows us: "UPDATE – SUBJECT TROLLOPE DECEASED – CAUSE OF DEATH GUNSHOT RESISTING ARREST. PLEASE DELETE FROM SPECIAL CATEGORY". The computer spool revolves back and forth for two or three seconds and then stops. Sam ponders this for a moment and then heads back to the keyboard and swtiches on the machine. He has he answer.

INT. MOTHER'S FLAT – NIGHT

Sam enters the flat. Jill is nowhere to be seen. The lights are out but, from the partially opened bedroom door beams a shaft of bright light. Music pours forth... it is...

"BRAZIL".

SAM

(cautiously)

Jill?

Getting no answer he goes to the door and peers through. There is Jill but, transformed. She is wearing one of Sam's Mother's wigs which billows in the air blown by a fan. She is also wearing a diaphanous nightdress borrowed from the extensive wardrobe and is dancing slowly. She looks like the Dream Girl. Sam stands open-mouthed. Jill notices him and smiles.

JILL

What do you think?... is it me?

SAM

(still stunned)

You don't exist any more. I've killed you. Jill Layton is dead.

He holds out a print-out. She reads it and slowly looks up.

JILL

Care for a bit of necrophilia?

They rush together.

INT. STONE SHIPANTI – DAY

The screen is filled with brilliant white clouds rushing about a beautiful blue sky. They course this way and that. Pulling back we reveal that this patch of sky is inside a mammoth glass-like cube held aloft by four stone columns. The absolutely amazing scale of this cube is revealed as Sam sweeps up into shot – his wings gleaming in the light. He is a tiny speck but, overjoyed –he has found the day. far below him the grey Prisoners gather beaming with happiness. Diving back to the ground – Sam unsheaths his sword and holding it aloft rushes to the base of one of the great columns. The Forces of Darkness who have been lurking in the shadows slink back. Sam, with one mighty swing, strikes the column – the noise reverberates as cracks begin to race up and through the column. It is disintegrating. As it crumbles the mammoth cube begins to topple. Everyone steps back. Down it plummets. And smashes into a million pieces. The bright blue sky escapes in all directions. The grey Prisoners' iron collars and chains fall from their necks as they stand, surrounded by a beautiful blue sky. They look up to the sun. Sam is exultant.

INT. MOTHER'S BEDROOM – DAWN

Pull back from the sun through a window. The light falls on Sam's smiling sleeping face. Showly he wakes. He little by little remembers where he is and reaches over for Jill. She isn't there. Sam panics.

JILL

Merry Xmas.

She is sitting at the foot of the bed grinning at him. She crawls over to him – they start to embrace.

SAM

Everything is going to be all right.

But crash!!! It's a raid! Like a giant drill a whirling cylinder has plunged through the ornate moulded ceiling of Mother's bedroom, and we now see what made the neat hole in the Buttle ceiling... CUTS show doors being burst open by SECURITY TROOPS. Jill and Sam are frozen in panic. Security Troops are sliding down a fireman's pole" from the hole in the ceiling.

SAM

(shouts)

She's dead. Check the list!

But it is Sam they have come for. He is being dragged out of the bed.

GUARDS

(as they struggle with him)

You Turncoat Bastard! JUDAS!! TRAITOR!!

A canvas bag is plunged over his head. All goes black.

SAM

(muffled)

JILL!!!

A shot rings out. Jill screams. It echoes through the blackness.

INT. PROCESSING AREA

In absolute inky darkness, Sam and the CAMERA move through space and time marked only by voices and sounds encountered on the way. This sound-sequence fades in and out a few times, indicating that the journey is longer than the real-time period of the blacked-out sequence. We hear:

Footsteps of Sam and GUARDS.

Distant howl of pain.

Muzak.

Iron gate.

Footsteps again.

Lift doors opening and closing.

Muzak.

Typing pool.

FEMALE VOICE

a wonderful gift, I changed it at the chemist for some antibiotics and bathroom scales and there's enough left on the voucher for a tonsilectomy if I want to treat myself...

Office door opens and closes.

GUARD'S VOICE

Christmas Parcel for you, sir... sign here please...

What looks like a rectangular hatch in the blackness opens. It is the eyeslit on the front of Sam's bag being opened by a SECURITY GUARD.

The Security Guard peers in for a moment and then steps back to reveal two SMART OFFICIALS sitting at a desk. They are looking up at Sam/us.

OFFICIAL A

93/HKS/608, you are charged with the following: Passing confidential documents to unauthorized personnel – viz IR dossier/Gillian Layton. Destroying Government property – viz an indeterminate number of personnel carriers. Taking possession under false pretences of said personnel carriers. Forging the signature of the Head of Records, Third Department. Attempting to misdirect Ministry funds, in the form of a cheque to A. Buttle, through unauthorized channels. Tampering with Central Services supply ducts. Employing unqualified suspected persons for this purpose. Attempting to conceal a fugitive from justice. Obstructing the forces of law and order in the exercise of their duty. Giving aid and comfort to the enemies of society. Bringing into disrepute the good name of the Government, and the standing within the community of the Department of Information Retrieval. Attempting to disrupt the Ministry of Information Retrieval's internal communicating systems. Wasting Ministry time and paper.

OFFICIAL B

We would advise you that a plea of guilty will save you and the tax payer money, and will always be looked upon more favourably than a plea of not guilty. All you are requested to do at this stage is to sign this form.

Official B waves a sheet of paper. We hear Sam's voice.

SAM

Where's Jill?

OFFICIAL A

Not interested?

SAM

What have you done with Jill?

OFFICIAL A

Right. Next!

The Security Guard appears briefly and zips up the hood again plunging us back into darkness. We get more muffled shouts, heavy breathing and subterranean son et lumiere.

Another Security Guard opens the flap on Sam's hood. We see another TWO OFFICIALS.

SAM

(more hysterical)

Where's Jill? What's happened to Jill?