The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Also In The News
|
Showing at the London Film Festival on October 16th (18:15, 18:15), October 17th (16:15) and October 19th (16:45)
By Richard James. |  |
Tuesday, 13, Oct 2009 06:15
Directed by Terry Gilliam, out October 16th in cinemas, starring Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, running time 122 mins.
In a nutshell...
Exemplary Gilliam in its maddening, beautiful, silly glory.
What's it all about?
Heath Ledger's tragic death means a fantastical tale that might have bemused audiences will now be seen by far more people that would typically play for a multi-dimensional journey into the crazed and incredible imagination of Terry Gilliam.
What are they in for? Well, on the surface it's a tale of a travelling theatre company that allows consumers into a strange realm where the wrong choice can mean the difference between joy and terror, and where an ancient bet with the devil (Tom Waits) will decide the fortune of a teenage girl (Lily Cole).
After Ledger's death, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is so much more, providing a final glimpse at a talent who passed before his time and also ripping up the rule book by casting three of his peers (Depp, Law and Farrell) to play Ledger's mysterious newcomer-to-the-troupe Tony.
Who's in it?
Starring in his final film, posthumous Oscar winner Heath Ledger plays the amnesiac Tony who lands in the lives of ancient soothsayer Doctor Parnassus (Plummer), his daughter Valentina (Cole) and their assistants Anton (Garfield) and Percy (Verne Troyer). Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to play Tony in separate dimensions after Ledger's passing while acclaimed songwriter Tom Waits stars as the devilish - literally - Mr Nick.
As an example...
"Can you put a price on your dreams?" - Tony
What the others say
"With clumsy dialogue, poor plotting and some downright terrible performances, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a huge disappointment for any fan of Terry Gilliam's work." - Chris Tilly, IGN Movies
"There are thrilling flashes of Gilliam getting back to top form here. A scrappy movie with more ideas than it can control, but one born out of a passion and determination that are wholly infectious." - Olly Richards, Empire
So is it any good?
Almost abandoned because of his death and now dominated by Heath Ledger's final presence on celluloid, The Imaginarium of Parnassus might receive a kinder reception that it perhaps deserves, if only for a critical sympathy for Terry Gilliam's ingenuity in completing this beautiful and inconsistent film. In essence, it's a comprehensive example of everything that's both engaging and annoying about the former Python's works behind the camera, with every visually stunning scene that reveals his wondrous capacity for imagination offset by a tonal misstep, an unnecessary digression or a set-piece that simply fails to work.
The atmospheric confusion is instantly apparent as Dr Parnassus' antiquated theatre cart sets up shop outside a modern-day south London club at closing time. Though there's a curious otherworldly feel due to the group's antiquated dress and mores among contemporary Londoners, you're closer to sympathising with the bemused drunks spilling out of the night spot than the bizarrely dressed performance freaks on the makeshift stage.
Audience members who've gone along purely for the morbid fascination of seeing Ledger's final outing and his eye candy replacements are also likely to shift uneasily in their seats as Gilliam weaves a meandering tale that amazes the eyes but bewilders the brain. Even those viewers familiar with the director's surrealist tendencies - with some flashes of his Python animations during trips inside the titular Imaginarium - will find themselves frustrated by the way in which the film sometimes jettisons audience goodwill with irrelevant silliness and atonal comedy.
Yet it's as potent example of Gilliam's directorial weaknesses as it is a showcase of his staggering creativity. The darker Imaginarium scenes feel like a nightmarish Dali writ large while there's spectacular imagery throughout, most notably the unexpected and distressing first image of image Ledger noosed and hanging under Blackfriars Bridge. It's also to the director's eternal credit that his makeshift solution to his lead actor's death works majestically, somehow improving audience understanding of the powers of the Imaginarium and Tony's enigmatic backstory. The late additions to the cast also put in largely fine work, with Depp cheeky as ever and only Law a disappointment, hamming up to an unfortunate extent for someone who's just played the Dane to such critical acclaim. As for the rest of the cast; Waits is a terrifying and debonair devil, Lily Cole immensely sexy and showing far more promise than you might expect from a supermodel, while Garfield is hugely out of his depth and feels as if he's been transported in from a BBC3 sitcom, a disappointment given his great work in TV dramas Red Riding and Boy A.
The film might fizzle out as it reaches a sprawling conclusion with less focus than a pre-teen who's forgotten his daily Ritalin dosage but for the sheer fact of the film's existence when it could have followed its leading man off life's mortal coil, the benefit of the doubt has to be given.
When it works, it's magical and utterly captivating; when it doesn't, it's juvenile, indulgent and noisy. But it's still Gilliam's most visually exhilarating work in two decades.
6/10
Lewis Bazley