The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

[GrinningManiac]

Go see this film

Seriously, go see it. Buy a ticket, get it on DVD, read the script aloud, I don't care. I have just returned from seeing it at the cinema and it is one of the best films I have seen this decade

The story is about the Immortal Doctor Parnassus, who can explore and control people's imaginations, making their wildest dreams come true. He is, however, a tragic character, having become embroiled with a deal and many subsequent gambles with the Devil. The Devil, in my opinion, steals the show. This is not a red, fire-breathing CGI satanic Doom-Bat as countless other stories would have it. No, this is the original devil, the Ultimate Conman, the Dark Trickster, a seller of false promises and weaver of misinformation. Snazzily dressed, too, and brilliantly played. The good Doctor himself is also brilliantly realised, and it's quite a funny moment to see old Dumbledore get drunk and swear at a midget

Every character is well-told, sympathetic and lovable, though none are "good" or "heroes", they all have their downfalls. The ending is not what it seems, and is not a fairytale 100% good or bad ending, if it could be called an ending at all

The acting is superb, and the special effects are deliberatly not photorealstic, so as to capture the surrealism of it all. The music and humour are both excellently done.

The symbolism underneath it all is rampant, particularly with subtle refrences the Devil makes to his own folklore ("Gotta go, it's almost eleven!") and the christianity message is not completley for or against, though, in fact, the Devil represented in this film is hardly of Christian stock. He is more the playful tormentor of victorian short stories than the embodiment of evil.

A fan-rant, mabye, but I belive that this film is brilliant, and a triumphant final send-off to Mr. Ledger, whose replacements throughout the film are innoticable lest they deliberatly bring it up

Spelling aside, this review is sound in it's argument. Please see this film at some point, it's an experience, even if by some strange fault you don't enjoy it

 

[A Weary Exile]

I love Terry Gilliam so I was probably going to see this anyway, well-written review and not too long.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

The good Doctor himself is also brilliantly realised, and it's quite a funny moment to see old Dumbledore get drunk and swear at a midget

Dumbledore was in it?! How could I have missed that?!

I personally loved this film as well, Terry Gilliam really using insanity, imagination and use of stories to his advantage in this film.

One thing I fail to realise, though, is how you managed to write a review that didn't mention the fact that this was Heath Ledger's last movie. There were questions about whether or not it would actually end up being made after his death and it was only through blind luck that they had recorded all of the footage of Heath Ledger's character outside the box, so they could use different actors for his character on the inside and just played with that.

Mind you, I do agree that Heath Ledger lost his spotlight in the film to Tom Waits (the guy who played The Devil aka Mr. Nick). Tom Waits was an, albeit surprising, but amazing actor nonetheless for his character, when you consider what he's more famous for:

Spoiler: What Tom Waits is more famous for

Yeeeah...

Anyway, apart from that, I felt a little more detail was necessary on points like acting and sound, it seemed a little bit like fanboyism, so try and find some flaws to balance it out, spelling and grammar check before posting it on the internet and I hope to see another one sometime.

 

[tim_the_tam]

this is the heath ledger film right?

what role does he play in the film and how did his death affect the film?

 

[Zombie_Fish]

this is the heath ledger film right?

what role does he play in the film and how did his death affect the film?

He playes a man who gets called Tony, who is first seen hanging from a bridge or reasons unknown. It turns out that he was a charity worker and he comes up with an idea of changing their style in order to attract customers to The Imaginarium. This follows through and they become quite successful because of it. Anything more I say may come close to spoiler territory so I'll avoid saying anything else.

His death didn't actually affect the film as much as you would expect. Terry Gilliam was very lucky to have filmed every scene where Tony was outside The Imaginarium before Heath Ledger's death, so he just made it so that his character's looks would always change whenever he went inside, and he just used three different actors (Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp) for the scenes inside The Imaginarium, and they just carried it on like that. I think since he has been well known for problems with production in his films [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Gilliam#Production_problems] that he will just ignore the problems and get on with it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KexudBb_oc] anyway, regardless of what comes up.

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

Well, thanks for prodviding that exra push. I'm going to go watch it. I've previously heard it's good, but with a review like this? Then again, I shouldn't place all my trust in reviews...