The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Plot synopsis:
Doctor Parnassus' theater troupe, which includes sleight of hand expert Anton, confidant Percy, and Parnassus' daughter Valentina, performs outside a London pub. The troupe's main attraction is a magical "Imaginarium", which offers whoever enters it a choice between difficult self-fulfillment or easy ignorance. After a drunkard is swayed to the latter, Parnassus says he has lost another one to Mr. Nick, a suave personification of the Devil. Mr. Nick reminds Parnassus that in three days Valentina turns 16, and her soul will be his. Hundreds of years ago Mr. Nick tricked Parnassus into gaining immortality, after making a wager similar to his current predicament.
As the troupe crosses a bridge, Anton spies someone hanging beneath it. They rescue the man, who spits out a golden pipe when revived. Claiming to have amnesia, he joins the troupe as a barker. Parnassus becomes despondent over the impending loss of his daughter. Mr. Nick visits Parnassus, revealing the hanging man is a disgraced philanthropist named "Tony". He offers Parnassus a wager: Valentina can stay with whoever wins five souls first.
Tony convinces the troupe to remodel the show into a more modern act. While performing, Tony lures a posh woman into the Imaginarium and follows her, where they enter a pastel-coloured dream-world representing the woman's imagination. The woman's imagination also changes Tony's face; upon discovering this, he dances elegantly with her, and they spy a motel run by Mr. Nick. Tony convinces the woman to take a gondola toward a pyramid alone, winning a soul for Parnassus. Tony falls back out of the Imaginarium, returning his face to normal; the woman exits shortly after and gives the troupe a vast sum of money. When three other women enter, each emerges elated; and thus Parnassus wins three more souls. Four Russian gangsters, to whom Tony owes money, are taken by Mr. Nick when they chase Tony into the Imaginarium. The score becomes four souls apiece.
With the bet nearing its end, Parnassus reveals Valentina's conception to her: after ageing from immortality, Parnassus made a new pact with Mr. Nick to be youthful again, in order to win the heart of a woman he loved. In exchange, any child he fathered would become Mr. Nick's property at age 16. Valentina attempts to run away, but Tony enters the Imaginarium to give his soul to Parnassus; in exchange, Parnassus must teach him the trance that powers the dream world. Valentina returns as he tries to enter the mirror, but Anton blocks them, having discovered that Tony is a fraudulent charity scammer.
Tony fights off Anton, pushes Valentina into the Imaginarium and joins her. Influenced by Valentina's desires, Tony's face changes again, and they float along a beautiful river in a gondola. After an impoverished child disrupts their boat trip, Tony transforms into a philanthropist speaking at a fundraiser. Anton, following the pair into the Imaginarium, appears as an outspoken child and exposes Tony as a fraud. A mob pursues Tony as the landscape disintegrates, causing Anton to fall into a void.
Distraught and angry over her father's bargain and a lifetime of hiding of the truth from her, Valentina gives her soul to Mr. Nick. Disillusioned by the easy victory, Mr. Nick offers Parnassus to trade Valentina for Tony. Chased by the mob, Tony flees to a gallows, but Parnassus confronts him, holding Tony's pipe and a copy. Parnassus challenges Tony to choose which pipe is genuine. He chooses wrongly, inserts the copy in his windpipe, and is hanged. Mr. Nick keeps his word and Valentina is freed, but Parnassus is not told where she is, and is abandoned to wander in the Imaginarium.
Parnassus emerges years later, finding Valentina is married to Anton and they have a daughter. He watches them from outside a restaurant window, but when tempted to join them, he is stopped by Percy. Teaming up once more, Parnassus and Percy sell toy theatre replicas of the Imaginarium and the troupe on a street corner. Mr. Nick invites Parnassus over to him, but Percy puts an end to the temptation.

Tags: alternate reality, psychedelic, fantasy, cult, flashback

Review:
Like so many of Terry Gilliam's films The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is one that is going to need multiple viewings to truly form an opinion on.
But we don't have that so I'm just looking at what's there.The fact is the film is at it's best when galloping around the fantastical worlds of the Imaginarium, with Ledger's character Tony now played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.
If you ever watched Tideland, you know Terry Gilliam is capable of works of terrible beauty, often concocted from the ugliest bits life can provide; such is this film.This is Heath Ledger's last film, he died during filming it, but his character is not the main one, just the extra ingredient needed to take all the important ones out of their equilibrium state.
Because of this tragedic death, other actors came to fill up the role, such as Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.And still, the important character, the Faust that can't keep himself from betting with a mischievous devil that isn't even very unfriendly, is Christopher Plummer's, who played marvelously at his age of 81.
Suffering the double whammy of being directed by Terry Gilliam (forever the attracter of on-set misfortune – Don Quixote, anyone?) and the untimely death of its star, Heath Ledger, halfway through shooting, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has had a troubled upbringing.
It's not on par with his work in Brokeback Mountain or The Dark Knight, but seeing how much fun he must have been having, seeing that wily smile, makes it a none the more fitting goodbye to the man.The multi-personas also, despite sounding like classically contrived Gilliam, actually turn out to be the most credible part of the movie; they represent the most fascinating of the film's many mediations on reality (Gilliam is always at best when toying with reality, and this is no exception) - different parallels of the human psyche (or at least Tony's) are all challenged, and make for genuinely thought-provoking stuff.
Better are the moments where a group of "violence-loving" coppers dance about in skirts or in the inebriated ramblings of Doctor Parnassus.Why Gilliam didn't stick to his personal brand of appealing outlandishness is a shame, and a mystery, considering his fine cast of comically-endowed Brits, with glorious thespian Christopher Plummer at its head as the titular Doc. Of all the actors on hand here, Plummer is the one who best excels with the material.
Just before leaving to go and see The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, the latest offering from the perpetually 'unlucky' yet stubbornly visionary Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Time Bandits), I asked a good friend, also a movie buff, if he wanted to come with."No way," he proclaimed.
As an example of the latter, one would think that Gilliam, having famously made the creative decision to bolster the late Heath Ledger's incomplete performance with the work of Johnny Depp, Colin Farrel and Jude Law, might have installed some sort of interesting yet logical plot device allowing that singular character to appear physically different at times.
Simple?), this stuff, when fused with Gilliam's impeccable eye for composition and always fantastic production design will help you forget that the film isn't perfect or logical or accessible.Despite all of the aforementioned flaws in the story (which, understandably, most movie-goers may have a low tolerance for), The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is actually quite brilliant, and contains some of the single best movie moments and ideas seen all year, and by dint of its stellar cast (besides Heath Ledger and friends, the film stars Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits, both in memorable roles), serves as a showcase for some of the best talent working in film at the time of production.
In the stories that Doctor Parnassus tells to his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), to the midget Percy (Verne Troyer), and his assistant Anton (Andrew Garfield), he claims to have more than one thousand years; however, when he felt in love for a mortal, he made a deal with the devil Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) trading his immortality per youth.
Tony and Valentina fall in love for each other and the jealous Anton discovers that his competitor is a liar."The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is another original movie with the surrealistic and imaginary world of Terry Gilliam and last work of Heath Ledger that had to be replaced by Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell in the "Imaginarium" to complete the missing scenes.
Undoubtedly it could be better, but considering complicated circumstances under which were whole creation of the movie this is not just concocted story, it's elaborately tailored picture with heart and deep sense.Looks a little bit patchy at first view, I suppose it's related with the death of Heath Ledger who didn't end his performance nevertheless Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell imbue the movie with new shapes and different atmosphere.
This clever adjustment to the script provides three other actors with fill-in roles for Ledger: JOHNNY DEPP, JUDE LAW and COLIN FARRELL.Heath is a complete delight in his role as the mysterious stranger who comes upon the traveling sideshow and has the power to change everything.
So many A list actors (Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, etc.)put together in one place, make this film even more enjoyable.
This movie is a must see for any Terry Gilliam fan, any Heath Ledger fan, and anyone who likes imaginative and bizarre stories..
The 'Imaginarium' itself is a spectacle of fabulous colours, wonderfully bizarre landscapes and alluring visions; each personal to whoever enters through the magical mirror of Dr. Parnassus' mysterious travelling sideshow.On the face of it, this vague idea along with an unparalleled cast sounds like it could be a winning concept for another masterpiece from acclaimed filmmaker Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), but I think it lacks the substance to make it a winner.
Having said this, credit should be duly given to Gilliam, as the sudden death of Heath Ledger before filming had finished meant that some of the script had to be rewritten and other actors drafted in to complete Ledger's part (Depp, Law and Farrell).The plot is hazy and with so much going on throughout it is very difficult to summarise.
Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law each bring an interesting dynamic to the character, even though they feature only for short spaces of time within the Imaginarium.I would like to watch this film several times more before making my mind up completely as to whether I like it or not; but the main reason that I wouldn't put this amongst Gilliam's best is that it is quite slow-moving in places, where Gilliam seems to have gotten so carried away with his imagination-land that some of the other scenes are lacking focus.
And if you have no idea about Heath Ledger passing away and that whole story, you might even think the movie was planned like that from the get go.It's a crazy world, that Terry shows us, which won't answer many questions at the beginning and will leave with a few at the end.
This might be forgivable for some art-house films, but since this is a big budget movie on which the story depends on the effects (most of half takes place inside the imagination of Dr Parnassus) it makes the movie almost unwatchable.Also the movie lacks any sort of coherence whatsoever.
Hell, the part where a bunch of policemen suddenly started doing a musical routine completely killed it for me.Usually I am a big fan of original movies that are the product of an imaginative director (Pan's Labyrinth, Amelie or the recent Moon), but if you value a gripping story to come with crazy special effects, then steer away from this as far as you can.Watch The Dark Knight instead again to see Heath Ledger at his best..
An interesting tale of a leader traveling theater troupe who, having made a deal with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations.'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' which received two nominations at the Academy-Awards this year, will ensure a huge fan following in the coming years.
If Terry Gilliam wanted to show us the old battle between Evil and Good - well why did he add all that indecipherable rubbish to it - including the incomprehensible style of clothing the actors wear or what they do ...well Christopher Plummer with eyeliner and in a kind of Dalailama hat well - that one tops probably all of those incomprehensible and incoherent scenes included...and the way the Devil ( ?
The way he constructs the rules of the Imaginarium world make the story believable, though highly fantastical.The look of the film is very much like Gilliam's other works in the past like Time Bandits, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, and there are a few things that are straight out of his animations from his Monty Python days.
A Sprawling Disaster from Beginning to End. Director Terry Gilliams' "Doctor Parnassus" is an overly ambitious, sprawling, overly indulgent, excessively long (that is how I felt watching it anyway) film chock full of special effects and I hated practically all of it.
Terry Gilliam, The mind behind the erratic and genius Fear and Loathing Las Vegas and Brazil, had his creative work cut out for him, when one of his stars and backbones passes away suddenly and quietly right in the middle of shooting of his latest film, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a unique adventure with good performances from the cast by writer/director Terry Gilliam whose admirable in making this movie thats original and might not be for everyone but I for one thought it was decent.
Colin Farrell and Jude Law have a little more to do and I feel both actors like Depp have done justice to the character Heath had created for the movie.
The film's pace was a little slow at times, some questions are never answered leaving them ambiguous, and the ending isn't quite what I expected but the exceptional performances by the cast (especially Ledger, Plummer, Depp, Law, Waits and Farrell) make up for it's few flaws.
In my humble opinion, there are only a few directors who achieve transforming narrative formulas and technical processes from modern cinema into genuine cinematographic art, reflecting a personal vision which does not simply fit into the commercial requirements from the medium, and which also transcends the simple popular entertainment in order to become into something different, which is on some way more valuable thanks to their intention of affecting our spirit with ideas or feelings expressed through pure narrative.In short, those few directors have the ability of creating dreams they share with the spectator...something which will not be necessarily satisfactory or pleasant for everyone, but which is undoubtedly different to what we are accustomed to experience as passive spectators in the cinema.In the list of those brilliant directors, I could include David Lynch, Guy Maddin and Terry Gilliam.With The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, his most recent film, Gilliam brings us another excellent movie, which, as most of his films, may not be for everyone, but which I personally found to be absolutely fascinating.The story from The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is almost incomprehensible, and I understand that the bizarre screenplay and the strange characters will be difficult to assimilate by the casual spectator.However, I was truly hypnotized the whole time I was watching this film, mainly because of its dream-like tone, which reminded me of the strange dreams-hallucinations I had under the effects of the fever due to some debilitating sickness.Besides, the film is saturated of Gilliam's characteristic rampant imagination, from the prosaic juxtaposition of middle-aged and modern elements to the hallucinating drives through imaginary worlds inspired in the psychology from their owners.That unstoppable imagination is also expressed with many special effects, which are well done.Before speaking about the actors, it is obligatory for me to mention the Heath Ledger (1979-2008)'s tragedy, and the effect his unexpected death had during the production of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.Many people will prefer to remember The Dark Knight as Ledger's last performance, but his performance in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is credible, and much subtler than the one of the Joker, because he has to keep his emotions under the surface in here.Needless to say he does it very well, and he shows a lot of conviction as Tony.Due to Ledger's death during the filming, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell worked as his "substitutes", and I have to say their presence was very naturally integrated to the unpredictable screenplay.As for the rest of the cast, the great Christopher Plummer is perfect on his character; that also applies to Tom Waits and Lily Cole.And, finally, Verne Troyer surprised me with his performance, because he shows unexpected emotional levels I would have never imagined due to his slapstick work in the Austin Powers movies or in the TV series Jack of All Trades.In summary, I found The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus to be a fascinating hallucination.Needless to say, I enthusiastically recommend it if you like Gilliam's work; and those people who have not had the pleasure of watching movies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve Monkeys or The Adventures of Baron Munchausen will find a great introduction to the mind of one of the few honest and audacious contemporary directors who never loose the fidelity to their personal vision..
And the closest answer to that is probably a mind bending fantasy which is not a million miles away, in style, from the Never Ending Story.The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus appears to be about the fortunes of a quirky travelling theatre show, a stage drawn by horses on which the resident actors play fantasy roles to entertain their audiences every night.What emerges quickly though is that through the mirror on the stage, with more than a nod to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, is a surreal mind-bending reality where the rules of planet earth no longer apply.Add to that the main plot development of Heath Ledger's Tony who joins the crew but appears to have a mysterious past and you have a recipe for an intriguing story.It goes without saying that the star of this tale is literally its imagination - special effects galore create a breathtaking world of surrealism and creative ingenuity, behind that mirror lies a fantastical world.But the performances of Plummer, Ledger, Garfield and Cole (not to mention Troyer and the 3 cameos) are all uniformly excellent with Waits having a whale of a time as a dark foreboding figure lurking in the background who appears to have history with Plummer's Parnassus.Add to this direction which is fast paced, coherent, sharp, and well realised with wonderful cinematography and you have the makings of a very well conceived film.Yes, it is confusing, and in places absolutely mind melting, but it's not made as a date movie or for a bunch of high schoolers.
The imaginarium scenes are very dream-like and I think if terry Gilliam accomplished anything from this film - it is surely the perfect bizarre atmosphere and feelings of dreams or in other cases, nightmares.Most of the cast is great including the late, great Heath Ledger (though not his best role) as the main character of Tony.
Not sure if this was Terry's intention but then again - the whole film changed drastically after the unfortunate demise of Heath Ledger.The rest of the cast were also very good especially Verne Troyer as the fiesty Percy and Christopher Plummer as the title character, Doctor Parnassus.But the real star of the show who completely owned every scene he was in, has to be Tom Waits as The devil.
Heath Ledger's final film is as wildly imaginative as you'd expect from the mind of Terry Gilliam.
And when two people enter, their imaginations overlap, causing chaos and pandemonium.Ledger died unexpectedly during the filming of this movie, of course, and his death left director Terry Gilliam with a decision to make.
This outing is not up to the previous adventures despite the last role for Heath Ledger and Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell standing in for Ledger, who died during filming.Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) heads a rolling side-show act in modern London where audience members can pass through a mirrored portal and change their visage and lives.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2:02, PG-13) — Fantasy: Supernatural, 2nd string, original, OSIT cynicsThis movie will inevitably be known as Heath Ledger's last rather than as Terry Gilliam's most recent.
How great is to go to Cinema...A part of mine still wants to see the magic, the wonder, as children want to have it...One of the greatest strength of the film, that Terry Gilliam forgets to be Terry Gilliam, or better to say, he has changed, and well, he created something magical...All the cast is great, no slowing downs, no pointless twists, or boring parts, well-written characters, believable situations, high-talented actors and actresses.The other, very fortunate thing, that the story is as eternal as the duel between the Goods and the others...Heath Ledger is extremely good, Christopher Plummer is I think in his best, Lily Cole is a great surprise, Andrew Garfield and Tom Waits are also, among the tops.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is directed by Terry Gilliam and if anyone is aware of his work they should know the kind of film to expect.
Overall i thought it was quite a good film, but it has its flaws; one or two main characters (Anton, Tony, Valentina) lack the right amount of depth to make you really care about what happens to them, although i often feel this way about the characters in Gilliam's movies; perhaps its simply because he does stories and visuals better than he does people.