The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was a movie I have had a desire to see since I first heard about it. While I have had a great desire to see it I believed this would be a movie along the same lines of Big Fish that usese the vivid imagery of flashbacks to tell an overall story. However this ended up being a movie that was not what I expected, while they used amazing imagery within the imaginarium, the focus of the story was that of the real world. This is definitely a movie that one needs to see multiple times in order to truly pickup on the subtle plotlines that will help a person fully form an opinion on the movie.
Of course Parnassus has the particularly insurmountable problem of being the late Heath Ledger's final performance and following on from his superb, Oscar-winning turn in The Dark Knight. It is impossible to see the film through eyes that don't see it as the film he died making. Some parts of the film may perhaps work even better than they may of done had he lived – some of the best films are triumphs over adversity and adverse conditions don't come much greater than your star dying mid-shoot. But whatever works and doesn't in the film it is hard – impossible on a first viewing – to divorce yourself from the knowledge you bring into the theatre. On first feeling Parnassus seems patchy, and curiously it feels like a film that may not have worked as well as it does had nothing happened to Ledger. Don't get me wrong I'd rather have a failure and Ledger still alive to put it behind him and move on than a wonderful film that is largely the result of his tragic death.
The score is great. Nothing ground-breaking but the music disappears and becomes a part of the scene. A great touch is when whenever Mr, Nick (The Devil) appears, the score changes to something jazzy or bluesy. For me the imagery of the imaginarium of the poeple is vivid and creates a great contrast to the mundane darkness of London at night. Terry Gilliam directed this painting of a movie wonderfully with timing and pace coherently controlled. He gives us not just a great story but a whole world so outstandingly created with visual effect and cinematography that might leave you wondering where you are at the end of the movie and where you were during it. The Imaginarium, with its doorway made of simple foil sheets, is filled with random worlds produced by people's mind which is so vivid and mysterious and weird. This whole fil is wierd, but in a good way.
Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell play the imaginarium role of Ledger's character of Tony with such brilliance but simplicity that is nearly amazing in that while the face of the character is different the mannerisms and movements are spot on to the original Tony of Ledger played in the non-imaginarium world. Verne Troyer plays a great comic relief in Percy who gives the quick witty one liners that help to break up the confusing nature of the plot.
This film continues to show the advancements that seem to be made yearly in the special effects world for movies. This movie gives some pretty compelling twists and turns that is something to be admired. Also, it is gives the audience a movie that is not expected within a CGI laden movie.
While many will have tough time liking this movie because of the strange nature, it is definitely an enjoyable movie that truly needs to be watched a couple of times to truly understand. The storyline itself is quiet confusing and its combination with the weird graphic of the Imaginarium world does not help at all. With this I am giving it three buckets of popcorn out of five. I would recommend that this movie is definitely worth the cost to rent.
-The Movie Man-
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