The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnnasus

I'm not sure how objective this review of Terry Gilliam's latest film will be because he is one of my favourite directors. This is because of two factors; his vivid imagination and his disregard for Hollywood machinations that have earned him his maverick label. There is also a certain amount of sympathy for huge amount of bad luck that seems to plague his shoots, and this latest film is probably the most notorious following the untimely death of Heath Ledger. Of course, depending on your philosophical standpoint it could be argued that all death is untimely or, conversely, all death happens at the exact moment it should - a debate worthy of the titular Doctor and his antagonist, Mr Nick.

The film is essentially a morality play, of the type that toured Britain in mediaeval times, except it is set in modern-day London, although the performers and their caravan are definitely from another time. This is more than in part due to the fact that Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) is immortal but suffering under a curse from the aforementioned Mr Nick (aka the devil) (Tom Waits) with whom he lost a bet that meant he would have to turn over his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) to the devil on her fast approaching sixteenth birthday. In a new bet Parnassus hopes to keep his daughter by saving five souls before Nick can collect five. He intends to do this using his Imaginarium, a special mirror that transports the person into his mind and dreams can be fulfilled. And the ill-fated Ledger? Well he is a bit of a chancer with amnesia who falls for Valentina and wants to help Parnassus save his daughter.

Without wanting to give too much away, each time Ledger's character passes through the mirror it reveals a different aspect of his forgotten character, which are then portrayed by Depp, Law and Farrell, who all stepped in after Ledger's much-documented demise. It is uncanny how much Depp and Law look like Ledger on first glance, while Farrell is playing a much darker aspect of the character.

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnnasus

But is it any good? Well like I said at the beginning Gilliam is one of my favourite directors, and I enjoyed the journey, but Gilliam does have a knack of dividing audiences. His last film, Tideland, definitely viewers between the majority who either hated it or found it offensive, and the handful who actually liked it. While this latest outing won't be quite as divisive, I've not heard too many people say good things about it. It's definitely not the best thing Gilliam has made, not by any stretch of even his considerable imagination, and some of it is a bit messy, especially some of the Imaginarium sequences that are let down by some poor special effects, but it is still far more inventive than the dross being churned out of Hollywood. I would rather spend two hours watching a flawed Gilliam than most of the studio tosh, or the gritty British realism, that gets foisted on us. Probably the best way to describe it is as a blending of Time Bandits and Munchausen, with a bit of Fisher King thrown in and topped off with some of Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is a film of good versus evil, filled with visual and philosophical ideas, along with the bizarre comedy, that Gilliam does best, and anyone going to see a star performance from Heath Ledger may be disappointed because it is the old boys, Plummer and Waits, that steal the show.

I would say, go and see it, but with the same advice Gilliam gave before a preview screening of Tideland, "Watch it through the eyes of a child".

THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is released in the United Kingdom and Eire by Lionsgate UK on October 16.

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