Daily Telegraph: Is there anyone in Hollywood you respect, I wonder? Terry Gilliam: “I had a great time on Brazil with Arnon Milchan,” he says, “the world’s favourite Israeli spy.”

Director Terry Gilliam left the United States and renounced his US citizenship. Today he resides in the United Kingdom. Back in the 80's he had a massive falling out with Arnon Milchan following the production of Brazil. Almost 30 years later, Gilliam describes his appreciation for Mr. Milchan:

Is there anyone in Hollywood he respects, I wonder? “I had a great time on Brazil with Arnon Milchan,” he says, “the world’s favourite Israeli spy.” He’s not joking: Milchan, the head of New Regency, whose hundreds of production credits include 12 Years a Slave, LA Confidential and Once Upon a Time in America, recently admitted in an interview that he’d been a spy in an earlier life. “He was actually in the arms business,” says Gilliam, cheerfully. “I don’t care where the money comes from. It’s all dirty money as far as I’m concerned!”

Certainly, we would agree that Mr. Milchan is "the world's favorite Israeli spy". He is also probably the best known and most fascinating Israeli spy in history, with a story worthy of a film franchise alas James Bond. Gilliam himself would have a role. While Gilliam and Milchan worked together, unbeknownst to Gilliam, Mr. Milchan was an extremely active agent during that period, on a number of covert fronts, including nuclear... and yes, as an "arms dealer", for a lack of a better term. Brazil itself was financed through such activities unbeknownst to Mr. Gilliam at the time... but certainly he had his suspicions.

A Fantastic Interview with Arnon Milchan at Locarno Film Festival

Arnon Milchan basically confirms every word in the book Confidential about his Hollywood career. A fascinating interview if you have a little time.

Terry Gilliam Explains Arnon Milchan's Reaction to Sid Sheinberg's Comment about 'Brazil' as "The Film of The Decade".

In a newly released clip, director Terry Gilliam describes a classic Hollywood moment, which is detailed in Confidential. Following the screening of Brazil to Universal executives at the Afred Hitchcock theater, Gilliam immediately sensed that they hated it. Universal boss, Sid Sheinberg, came out and called it "the movie of the decade". Milchan though he meant it, but Gilliam understood that it was a snide comment and represented the first shot in "the battle of Brazil". A knock down, drag out, war with the studio to get the movie released:

The Battle of Brazil also represented the beginning of bad blood between Arnon Milchan and Sid Sheinberg. At one point, Sheinberg publicly challenged Milchan to "put his money where his mouth is". Milchan replied in public that "anti-Semitisim is anti-Semitisim even if it comes from an assimilated Beverly Hills Jew." As described in Confidential, years later, Milchan ran into Sid Sheinberg on Broad Beach in Malibu. "He was strolling along when he encountered a  friendly dog and began to play with it. Within moments, the dog's owner suddenly appeared and he was not happy, saying 'excuse me, that's my dog.' Milchan turned around and saw Sid Sheinberg. 'Oh, I guess that means we're neighbors now," he said surprised. Sheinberg was neither friendly nor amused. "you're going to reduce the property values around here," he replied. They have never spoken since."