The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (DVD)

A 1,000 year old immortal, Dr Parnassus, makes his money by entertaining the public in a mysterious theatre show. Along with his daughter, Valentina, and helpers Anton and Percy, the team travel around in their wagon which unfolds to be their stage. The audience are given the chance to step inside a magical mirror where Dr Parnassus will control them and allow them to step inside their own imagination. But when the Devil arrives at Dr Parnassus' door, he claims that he has come to collect on a bet they made many years ago, and his win is Valentina. The Devil offers Dr Parnassus a new deal - through his mirror, he must find and give the Devil five souls. So ...  Read the complete review

There are only a handful of Directors whose names can be used as an adjective. State something is "Hitchcock-ian" and we know to expect a dark full tale of intrigue, whilst it is almost compulsory to describe bloody crime thrillers as "Tarantino-esque". Terry Gilliam is another whose mere name evokes such expectations: the blending of the old with the new, the fantastical with the mundane; sumptuous visuals of the imagination contrasting with the humdrum greys and browns of real life. These are all typically "Gilliam-esque" The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus might be attracting attention as the film Heath Ledger final ...  Read the complete review

****This is film only review**** The other day I went to see one of the most unusual, compelling and downright bizarre films I've ever seen. If you want a film which is escapist then this is it, a complete fantasy world. If you go with an open mind, not expecting everything to make sense, like me you will probably forget anything that's been bothering you in the real world for a couple of hours. That, in my eyes makes a film a winner. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a winner. It's a shame in a way that the story behind the production of this film has taken the publicity over what a fine film it is, though I suppose with the very nature of the ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears on my film review website, www.thefilmblogger.com, thanks! Terry Gilliam's much-hyped, long-awaited fantastical epic The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus hit a rather cumbersome speed-bump with the death of its lead performer, Heath Ledger, in early 2008. Gilliam is in the same privileged position as only a small handful of his contemporaries (notably perhaps David Lynch), that in being an auteur of the dynamic and the surreal, he is able to change his original narrative significantly without it seeming overly forced or contrived. With the help of Ledger's friends Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell (who all donated their salary to ...  Read the complete review

This is the film that Heath Ledger was making when he died, and it's a strange feeling to watch it, because it's hard to imagine any other film where the gaps could have been plausibly filled. It's a weird and wonderful concoction by Terry Gilliam, that unfortunately doesn't quite work, but nevertheless is worth watching for the sheer extravagance of the special effects. The imaginarium of the title is a horse-drawn Victorian style travelling theatre run by Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) a dwarf called Percy (Vernon Troyer) and their barker Anton (Andrew Garfield). They travel around present day London putting on their ...  Read the complete review