The Movie: After a quick diversion back into Python-land to make the Crimson Permanent Assurance pirate short that appears before – and crashes into – The Meaning Of Life – Gilliam got to work on what would become his undisputed masterpiece.

Continuing his obsession with corporate culture and faceless bureaucracy (which he’d tackled in a sideways fashion with Jabberwocky), Gilliam, along with co-writers Charles McKeown and Tom Stoppard poured his guts into the film and it shows – it’s dangerous, atmospheric and brilliant.

Terry’s Trials: Did he have problems with it? Um… just a little bit.

“Universal at the time was far closer to the bureaucracy that was portrayed in Brazil — they were just stunned by it. And they didn't know quite what to make of it."

“Even though the script was shot as approved and all of those things, they just weren't sure, because they're very nervous people. They're paid enormous sums of money to be able to predict exactly what the public wants. And I think that can lead to real neuroses on their part because it's an impossible task.

“And so their immediate reaction was a nervous one: ‘We're not sure what we've got, so let's try to change it into something that we do understand.' And I refused to play ball with them. I said, 'Sorry, this is the film that we agreed to make.' And then it got into this legalistic argument.

The only thing they really had over us was the time clause, and that's what they used to try to make us change the essence of the film.”

You likely know the rest – the studio produced its own, butchered, “Love Conquers All” happy ending version, Gilliam went to war to make them release his take. He won…