The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

I had this movie on my DVR since forever because the title was catchy. I didn't know who directed it. I didn't know who starred in it. Had I known it was a Terry Gilliam film I would have watched it sooner. I didn't know what to expect when I finally started to watch it. It was revealed to me it was directed by Terry Gilliam. Then is that Christopher Plummer? YES! Is that Heath Ledger? ! Is that Johnny Depp? YES! To me every scene contained an Easter egg. However this type of film is not for everyone. Gilliam is known for his strange films but Doctor Parnassus is Gilliam times two raised to the power of odd. I won't divulge the plot because it is difficult to discern. Instead, I'll list the Terry Gilliam films I've seen in order of my preference and you can decide if our tastes jibe and, if so, how you might enjoy Doctor Parnassus. 1. Twelve Monkeys 2. Brazil 3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 4. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus 5. Jabberwocky 6. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 7. The Fisher King 8. Time Bandits 9. Baron Munchausen 10. The Brothers Grimm

This was, I think, my first contact with Terry Gilliam's work. He's a director who seems to follow a "Tim Burton's style": oddly fantastic and adventurous films. But if Burton is more dark and gothic, Gilliam is lighter and merrier. Anyway, the truth is that this film became better known for being Heath Ledger's last work. Maybe you have seen it because of that! In fact, he died during filming and that forced Gilliam to adapt the movie to this sad circumstance. But let's be serious and face this: it was a fatality, but this isn't Ledger's magnum opus. And I understand people talk about him, but writing a whole review about an hour-and-half movie where you only talk about one actor is stupid. There are more interesting things in this film, and I'll try to focus on it.When I started watching, I knew it was a fantasy movie but I had read only a brief note about it, so I wasn't sure what I was going to see. And suddenly, I felt myself thrown into a strangely unreal world. It all happens suddenly, when we're not expecting something like that, so my first feeling was rejection. I thought that everything was deeply implausible. But I went ahead and, as the movie rolled, I started to realize everything and I ended up enjoying it. Being unreal, imaginative and different, it ends up being very entertaining. The plot revolves around an old man, Doctor Parnassus, who lives in a permanent game with the Devil under the cover of a run-of-the-mill show, old-fashioned and unsuccessful. And then you have the several worlds behind the mirror, created by the minds of those who entered there, and that symbolical choice between good and evil. This will work if you don't question the script's verisimilitude and keep in mind, from the start, that it's a fantasy film and it has some moral and symbolical notions involved.The cast was also good. Christopher Plummer is one of those actors who almost never fails, whatever the character. He was worn out and old enough to lend credence to his character's age; Ledger was also well, and Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johnny Depp provided support for the scenes that he had no opportunity to film. These four actors were well enough but they all did an average performance, when compared to what they have done previously. Better than any of them Lily Cole, who has half (or less) of their fame, proven us that she can be a good actress, not just a pretty face... she was much better than some professional actresses with no talent I know, putting a lot of effort into her character. Andrew Garfield was also very good, although his character is not so sympathetic due to his destructive jealousy. Playing a character that we know, in advance, that people will hate is a gesture of professionalism. Tom Waits gave life to a sly, clever and elegantly cheating Devil.Technically, I don't have much to talk about. If it weren't for the scenes inside the mirror and some elaborate costumes, the film would be within ordinary patterns. In fact, that old theater costumes are very interesting and scenes inside the "Imaginarium" were excellent, although it's obvious that it's CGI, and it's not even good CGI. But the worst of this movie wasn't it... it was the way the ending was written. A the end, the film tries to wrap all the narrative and give us a conclusion, but everything is poor and poorly done. Besides, there is no happy ending, but a semi-open ending in which we don't understand half of the things that happened.This movie is good, has good script premises and a good cast. For those who like fantasy, it's probably a "must see". But it's so complex and creative that, in the end, it failed to give us a satisfactory conclusion to the story it created.

If you know nothing about the backstory of this film, you'll be in a much better position to enjoy watching it. It's a very strange fantasy whose setting is a cross between a magician's show and a travelling theater group. The ringleader, Christopher Plummer, has made a deal with the devil before the start of the film: he'll live forever but when his daughter Lily Cole turns sixteen, the devil will claim her. After they find Heath Ledger and adopt him into their troupe, their show becomes more strange and fantastical.The film is split into four sections, and once again, if you don't know the backstory behind these splits, it's actually an interesting take on the story. Heath Ledger's character is introduced, and each time he performs the magic show, he's transformed into a different actor to show that the show alters him. The other actors are played by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law, and they're all very believable as changed versions of Heath.The visual aspects are quite impressive, if you like movies like this. As a child, if you loved the odd world of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and you usually like magician films, you'll probably really love The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Parts of it are quite good, but all in all, it was a little too weird for me. Plus, I knew what happened during the making of this film. Once you know what happened, it's pretty impossible to like it.

And now for something completely different, Terry Gilliam is the one American member of the British comedy troupe, Monty Python's Flying Circus. He seems to have absorbed his wicked sense of humor from those days. Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is a magician who is possibly 2,000 years old. He leads a carnival with Anton (Andrew Garfield), a midget, Percy, (Verne Troyer) and a daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole). He owns a magic mirror which sends its passengers into the imaginarium of the good doctor. The encounters of the netherworld are a feast for the eyes. The animation is combined with live action and it is breathtaking. A man of mystery appears, Tony, Heath Ledger who died during the filming and created a major dilemma for Gilliam. By using a creative script the director later cast Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Colin Farrell as alternate Tony's. It somehow works well as all three are excellent actors. The ultimate casting choice was Tom Waits (my favorite singer- songwriter) as Mr. Nick, who is most likely the devil incarnate. He growls through his lines and his voice was the main reason that Gilliam chose him for the role. The reviews are mixed and I was absolutely mesmerized by this film and give it an 8+.