"Don't worry if you don't understand it all at first" The quote from the opening of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus just about sums up the entire film, and perhaps the works of its director as a whole. The films of Terry Gilliam defy explanation or description; he approaches each film with his untouched creative vision and inventiveness. Every world he creates is wholly unique; he is the master of the original, and the fantasy. The great Dr. Parnassus made a wager, a bet with the devil himself, and he won. Granted immortality, but at a great cost, the life of his first born, his daughter on turning age 16 is forfeit to the fiend. Living on the street as a traveling stage show; Parnassus grants onlookers a chance to enter into his Imaginarium, a world of their own mind. The doctor is cursed, cursed to live forever, to watch and wait for the day of his daughters 16th birthday, a day that is looming. The devil loves a game, and makes another gamble with the Doctor: Lead 5 souls into the Imaginarium, grant them the choice between the sides of darkness and enlightenment. Win 5 souls before the day of his daughter's birth and win her freedom. The match is set, but the devil does not play fair, he loves the game above all else. There is an interesting conflict between Dr. Parnassus's two worlds, the grim dank reality of his life as a meek street performer, and the whimsical animated realm of his Imaginarium. Containing some of the most grounded characters of a Gilliam film, and yet some of the most fantastic dreamscapes. The traveling stage troop rescues a hanged man, a young man left for dead, fortune places him in there company, an amnesiac played by the late Heath Ledger in his last performance, one that he was unable to complete, Ledger proves once again the great talent that was lost. He is expressive, shrewd, and a joy to watch. It is an unavoidable distraction to think of the man behind the character, to see the great talent just beginning to come to light, we lost an actor of immense talent and charisma. Terry Gilliam for all his creativity and skill may be cursed. His filmography is fraught with difficulty and even disaster. He fought tooth and nail over his edit of Brazil, his lead actor in Don Quixote had a herniated disc and a flash flood destroyed a set, nearly every one of his films has struggled for financing and his creative control. And now the young burgeoning talent he cast in his latest dies during film-making, the man is truly cursed. The solution to the passing of his actor and friend was quite ingenious. As Ledgers character enters the Imaginarium, his appearance is changed, altered to reflect the imagination of the current participant in the realm. Jonny Deep, Jude Law, and Collin Farrell each admirably take there turns as incarnations of Ledger's character. It works surprisingly well, as they all bring a slightly different persona to the character as he is transformed by imagination. Farrell is able to capture the essence of Ledgers performance with the greatest quality, but all three are to be commended for finishing the last work of a great man. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a wild film, the animated formless, ever changing realm of imagination is vivid and very enjoyable to observe. It is a very interesting fantasy, and Terry Gilliam's insane touch is present thought out. It does not reach the level of Gilliam's greatest works, it lags a bit struggling to truly catch my attention, but I enjoyed the movie, it was a fun if confusing ride, I can't say I understood it all, but I think that maybe the point. It is a journey of wild creativity, and unmistakable original. A very entertaining abstract vision, with a surprisingly likable ending, it's a fun diversion from reality, a glimpse into the mad mind of Terry Gilliam.
