(U.K.-Canada) An Infinity Features Entertainment and Poo Poo Pictures production, in association with Davis Film Entertainment produced in association with Telefilm Canada. (International sales: Mandate Intl., Los Angeles.) Produced by William Vince, Amy Gilliam, Samuel Hadida, Terry Gilliam. Executive producers, David Valleau, Victor Hadida. Directed by Terry Gilliam. Screenplay, Gilliam, Charles McKeown.
Tony - Heath Ledger
Dr. Parnassus - Christopher Plummer
Percy - Verne Troyer
Anton - Andrew Garfield
Valentina - Lily Cole
Mr. Nick - Tom Waits
Imaginarium Tony 1- Johnny Depp
Imaginarium Tony 2- Jude Law
Imaginarium Tony 3 - Colin Farrell
Especially considering the trauma and difficulties stemming from Heath Ledger's death during production and the fact that Terry Gilliam hadn't directed a good picture in more than a decade, the helmer has made a pretty good thing out of a very bad situation in "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." Synthesizing elements from several of his previous pictures, including "Time Bandits," "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and "The Fisher King," the often overreaching director addresses a mad hatter of a story with the expected visual panache and what is, for him, considerable discipline. With Ledger onscreen more than might have been expected, the film possesses strong curiosity value bolstered by generally lively action and excellent visual effects, making for good commercial prospects in most markets.
"Imaginarium" joined the short list of films interrupted by the death of a star when Ledger died in January 2008, after an initial stretch of shooting in London and before the box office smash of "The Dark Knight." Gilliam struggled to figure out how to proceed before asking three other stars, Johnny Depp (who toplined for the director in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"), Jude Law and Colin Farrell, to step in to fill Ledger's shoes.
Many Ledger fans certainly will turn out just to see his final performance. But it's genuinely interesting to see how, under duress, Gilliam contrived to work the other actors into the role. The way it plays out in the finished picture is that Ledger's incarnation of Tony, a man rescued from death who provides a possible way for Doctor Parnassus to win a wager with the devil, occupies the London-set framing story, while his three successors play versions of the character in the CGI sequences set in fantastical other dimensions. It all comes off well, without terribly disruptive emotional-mental dislocations.
That said, Tony is not a demanding dramatic role, nor a particularly flamboyant one like the Joker, so this can't legitimately be described as one Ledger's most striking performances. Like most of the other actors here, he's antic and frantic, dirty and sweaty, as the principals flail around trying to cope with their desperate straits.
At first, it seems Gilliam's worst habits will get the better of him once again, as the early hectic action centers on a small group of traveling players who move about the seedier neighborhoods of modern London in a 19th-century-style carnival wagon that unfolds to allow the performers out to try to snare its few derelict customers.
At the center of the clan is Doctor Parnassus himself (Christopher Plummer, with a Lear-like countenance), who a thousand years ago made a pact with the devil for immortality. The downside to the bargain, however, as Parnassus is reminded when the devil comes to collect in the person of Mr. Nick (Tom Waits, forever the hipster); is that, when the doctor's daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) turns 16, she becomes Satan's property. Unfortunately, her birthday is imminent, so Parnassus makes another deal, which allows him to save his daughter if he can deliver five souls to his alternate world of the imagination.
This phantasmagorical domain exists as something like the anteroom to the doctor's wagon. Entered through a mirrored partition, it can assume multiple forms, and great comforts await there as well as considerable perils. It's another "Alice in Wonderland"-like playground for Gilliam, and while all the specific action may not be entirely coherent or exciting, it's always visually stimulating and allows the three incarnations of Tony to host assorted guests.
In a morbid touch, Tony is first seen hanging from a noose suspended from a London bridge and presumed dead. Once resurrected and done flopping about in the mud, the young man, who says "mate" a lot, joins Parnassus' small band, which, in addition to his kewpie doll-like daughter, consists of the over-avid Anton (Andrew Garfield), who's smitten with Valentina, and midget Percy (Verne Troyer). Seeing little upside among the drunks and homeless who generally witness and sometimes disrupt the troupe's appearances, Tony suggests a modernizing makeover and a move to snazzier environs.
A lot of the stage business consists of pratfalls and chaotic behavior, which quickly become overbearing, and the plot mechanics are scarcely more engaging. Fortunately, the central conception is sturdy enough to bear Gilliam's sporadic excesses, which in any case are better focused than is sometimes the case with him. Worst are the persistent and ineffectual flailings of Anton, a character poorly conceived in hapless 19th-century romantic mode.
It's 66 minutes into the picture when Depp first appears, and you have to look twice to make sure it's him, so closely has his pulled-back hair, moustache and beard been tailored to match Ledger's. At one point, Depp's Tony conducts a middle-aged woman to the river of immortality and says that there she can join the likes of Valentino, James Dean and Princess Di among those who never got old, which serves to ease Ledger's unspoken admission to that group.
Ledger reappears whenever the action returns to modern London, but the fact that Tony is always dressed in a white suit makes him instantly identifiable when Law takes over to deal with some Russian gangsters who pass through veil. Last and very much the best of the three new Tonys is Farrell, who brings great zest to Tony's efforts to become the crucial fifth soul who will save Valentina for Parnassus.
Pic's second half is resplendent with ever-changing CGI backdrops for the imaginary world the doctor has created with his gift. "Original designers and art directors" Dave Warren and Gilliam no doubt played a dominant role in conceiving the film's look, which is ornate without being a riot of detail, but production designer Anastasia Masaro, visual effects supervisors John Paul Docherty and Richard Bain and costume designer Monique Prudhomme certainly made major contributions as well. Other production values are strong across the board.
Plummer enacts the oldest man in the world with verve, and Troyer, Waits and Cole nicely hold necessarily caricatured work in check.
Pic is dedicated to the memories of not only Ledger but producer William Vince, who also died during production.
Camera (Technicolor), Nicola Pecorini; editor, Mick Audsley; original designers and art directors, Dave Warren, Gilliam; production designer, Anastasia Masaro; art directors, Denis Schnegg, Dan Hermansen (Vancouver); set decorators, Caroline Smith, Shane Vieau (Vancouver); costume designer, Monique Prudhomme; makeup and hair designer, Sarah Monzani; sound (DTS/SDDS/Dolby Digital), Tim Fraser, Eric Batut (Vancouver); supervising sound designer, Andre Jacquemin; re-recording mixers, Robert Farr, Mark Paterson; visual effects supervisors, John Paul Docherty, Richard Bain; visual effects, Peerless Camera Co.; stunt coordinator, Ray de Haren; assistant director, Lee Grumett; casting, Irene Lamb. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (noncompeting), May 22, 2009. Running time: 122 MIN...........................................................................................................
Dir:Terry Gilliam. Fr-UK-Canada. 122mins.
Terry Gilliam has always seemed like the last apostle of unfettered fantasy in an age insistent on prosaic reality. The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus is a typically staunch defence of the transformative power of the imagination and its ability to change the world.
This is the purest expression of Gilliam’s distinctive sensibility in a long while, complete with outbursts of Pythonesque humour, entrancing dream landscapes, strange creatures, a dapper devil and a wise midget. It is an incredibly rich stew of a film and an often wilfully eccentric proposition for a mainstream audience. Despite the attractions of a stellar cast, its appeal will be largely confined to loyal Gilliam fans and those seeking a last look at the legacy of the late Heath Ledger, who died during the film’s production. The end credits for Imaginarium bill it as a film from Heath Ledger and friends.
A reunion of Gilliam with Charles McKeown, his screenwriter collaborator on Brazil (1985) and The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1988), Imaginarium features many of the preoccupying themes and visual trademarks of Gilliam’s career. In many respects it has the air of a fond and perhaps final return to some very familiar ground. Christopher Plummer’s Dr Parnassus even feels like the kind of doddering seer of a figure who would seem very much at home in the company of Gilliam’s liars, rogues and vagabonds like Munchausen and Don Quixote.
Parnassus is thousands of years old and immortal. He now runs a ramshackle travelling magic show with his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), eager assistant Anton (Andrew Garfield) and dwarf Percy (Verne Troyer). But Parnassus has made a deal with the devil, called Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) to pursue the great love of his love. The price was that the devil would come to reclaim the soul of their child on her sixteenth birthday which in the case of Valentina, is just days away.
Always a betting man, the Devil offers Parnassus a further wager. The first of them to claim five souls wins the prize of Valentina. The wager takes place as the troupe save the life of disgraced charity boss Tony (Heath Ledger), who they find hanging from a bridge.
Parnassus takes place in a contemporary London that Gilliam paints as a grim city populated by narrow-minded individuals with no sense of imagination. It is a despairing, old man’s vision of a world that needs a little magic and hope more than ever. Those qualities arise in the various journeys undertaken to secure the five souls and save Valentina. If an individual can be persuaded to step through the mirror of the imaginarium, they pass into an
idyllic fantasy of their happiest imagining whether that’s a Willy Wonka land of chocolates and sweets for a child or a land of enticing consumer goods and gliding gondolas for one older woman.
These sequences give full reign to Gilliam’s visual imagination as a huge head of Parnassus appears from the sand or the devil transforms himself into a giant, slithering snake. In one bizarre moment, a band of cross-dressing policemen embark on a song’n’dance routine to entice new recruits with an appetite for violence. It is the most obvious nod to Gilliam’s Python past in the film.
Parnassus is a visual treat but one that many will find lacking in coherence or self-discipline.
The death of Heath Ledger has prompted an elegant solution that works in terms of the film’s narrative as Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all assume the role of Tony during the narrative. These transitions take place during the visits through the Parnassus looking glass so it seems entirely believable that Tony might change physical shape as he enters a different world and more of his true personality is stripped away to reveal the villain beneath.
In one sequence tiny boats bearing images of Rudolph Valentino, James Dean and Princess Diana float by and there is an eerily resonant tribute paid to those who die young and will never grow old or feeble.
Ledger’s final performance once again underlines his considerable screen presence and winning way with comedy but the film’s best turn comes from a dazzling Andrew Garfield as Anton. Deeply in love with Valentina and deeply jealous of her affection for Tony, he captures all the eagerness and wounded pride of his character in a totally delightful performance that is a further testimony to the versatility of an actor who seems comes up with something fresh in every film (Boy A, Lions For Lambs etc).
To anyone not sympathetic to Gilliam’s flights of fantasy, Parnassus will reek of rambling self-indulgence but fans will welcome it as a return to what he does best.
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