The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Last week Jenny and I went to see Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I was excited because, after learning the bitter truth that Spike Jonze's Where The Wild Things Are will not be released in France until December, I felt some satisfaction in being able to see a movie that has not yet been released in the U.S.

For those who don't know, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus features Heath Ledger's final performance. He was in the middle of filming his part when he died in January 2008, and luckily for the filmmakers, the fantastical nature of the movie allowed Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law to play variations on his character, completing the role without altering the script substantially.

The premise is that Doctor Parnassus is a thousand-year-old man who long ago won a bet with the devil, winning eternal life. He roams the world with a sideshow-like stage and a small band of performers, trying to convince audiences to enter his Imaginarium, a magic mirror through which people can fully experience their own imaginations. The main plot of the film has to do with the Doctor attempting, through inviting people into his Imaginarium, to win a final wager with the devil, with the help of his circus-like band of followers and a stranger named Tony.

The Doctor is played by Christopher Plummer, who I am convinced would have made an excellent Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies (but, on the other hand, just about every male British actor over the age of sixty I can think of would make a better Dumbledore than Michael Gambon). As always, Plummer is a pleasure to watch. His characterization of the Doctor is convincingly tragic, as a man doomed to live forever in a world where appreciation for his unique talents is dwindling.

I also loved the way the devil is portrayed in the movie - he is a chain-smoking, bowler hat-wearing trickster who is more mischievous than malicious. He is an obviously shady character who loves tempting the Doctor into accepting his bets and always manages to come out on top, but seemingly his main motivation is boredom rather than evil, and Tom Waits makes him almost likable. Another noteworthy performance is Verne Troyer's (a.k.a. Mini-Me), who is great as Percy, the Doctor's long-suffering assistant and closest friend. Rather than being a stereotypical sideshow midget played just for laughs, he is the one member of the company who manages to keep his head on his shoulders at all times, ensuring that Doctor Parnassus stays focused on his task.

Like most of Gilliam's movies, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is very strange, and very visually interesting. The originality of the story is one of its greatest strengths - it is refreshing to watch a movie which is not based on some well-known property such as a book or a previous film. The experience of watching a movie and not knowing where the story is going or being able to see every twist and turn of the plot coming a mile away is becoming more and more rare with today's movies.

Another strength of the movie is its visuals. The worlds seen within the Imaginarium are bizarre, beautiful, creepy, and always interesting to look at. This is definitely a movie worth seeing in the theater, because the fantastical landscapes simply would not come across the same if not seen on the big screen, where they can be spread large and wide, drawing the viewer in and allowing him or her to really experience them.

The individual portrayals of Tony by Ledger, Depp, Law, and Farrell are pretty good, but as a whole, I wouldn't say that the idea of having Tony transform from one to the other worked particularly well. Having so many distinctly talented actors playing the same character seems like a great idea theoretically, but in this instance, it's almost as if they cancel each other out, and it is somewhat distracting having so many well-known faces pop in and out of the story so quickly. However, bearing in mind that the reason for this method of portraying Tony was that the filmmakers were doing their best to deal with an unexpected tragedy, it's hard to hold it against the film.

There are moments when the story suffers from being a bit too convoluted, but overall, I enjoyed the movie. Though not outstanding, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus contains several good performances and a unique story told with excellent visuals, which is better than a lot of movies these days.