The Highest Brasil

The Highest Brasil is a movie that deserves to be seen twice. Once to appreciate the story and the actors, and again to figure out the esoteric symbolism. On the surface it is a movie about a man who joins a self-help group only to find out that it is a course to train people on how to enter a magical island full of earthly delights.

Below the surface, there is a one-eyed lady (the eye of providence?), three men chained together (the initiate's chain?), a hard to find meeting location (a passage to the unknown?), and the travelers being blindfolded (masonic initiation?). I am sure there are more references that I have missed.

If you enjoy movies with esoteric themes, you will enjoy watching this movie and picking it apart. If not, you'll enjoy watching a movie about a man who is unhappy with his life and wants to change rather than accept his fate. Either way, watch this movie. A movie like this should not be slept on. It is an island, a Hy-Brasil, in a sea of cinematic slop.

The character Brendan plays the Habanera aria from Carmen over and over, and an aria from an opera about people living free from convention is the perfect soundtrack for this movie about people wanting something different in life.