Abstract
‘It's about flights of fantasy, and the nightmare of reality, terrorist bombings, and late night shopping, true love, and creative plumbing.' (Gilliam; 1985). This tagline for the film Brazil highlights most of the concepts present in postmodernist criticism of cinema and television. Indeed, fantasy, dreams, nightmares, the questioning of reality, reason, logic and truth and the creation of an alternate reality are at the centre of post-modern thought. These concerns are explored in the Brazil, where Ministry of Information Employee Sam Lowry escapes a grim reality through dreams, and in the television series Twin Peaks (Frost and Lynch; 1990-1991) where FBI special agent Cooper uses dreams to understand and uncover the secrets beneath a seemingly quiet and pleasant reality. ‘Playfulness, pleasure, the shallow space of display, the alliance of electronics and corporate power' (Sobchak; 1987: 228-234 in Bordwell; 1989: 116) are only some of the characteristics of post-modern film.
