This nightmarish futuristic satire effectively blurs all lines between illusion and reality. Sam Lowrey, an unambitious government statistician, chooses to ignore the decaying drone-like world around him. Whenever real life becomes too oppressive, Sam fantasizes about being a superhero forever rescuing beautiful Jill Layton. When the omnipresent computer that controls everything in the “real” world malfunctions it causes the mistaken-identity assassination of an innocent citizen. When Sam routinely investigates the error, he meets Jill, literally the girl of his dreams. It turns out, however, that she is an associate of a terrorist whom the computer had originally intended to target for execution. Cast includes: Jonathan Pryce, Michael Palin, Kim Greist, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins and Robert De Niro.
How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
304292
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Surrealism in motion pictures
Crafts & Visual Arts → Surrealism in motion pictures
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Dystopias
Fantasy & Science Fiction → Fantasy
Fantasy & Science Fiction → Science fiction films
Feature films → Feature films - Great Britain
Magic, Occult & Supernatural → Dystopias
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)