The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) C
 
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
 
Cast includes: Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Heath Ledger, Vern Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell.
 
Drama, Comedy, Fantasy, Color
 
To say that this was an odd movie would be an understatement. My husband and I wanted to see this film for one reason only: This is the movie Heath Ledger was filming at the time of his death. The filmmakers handled his departure from the production very well by using Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play Ledger’s character inside the imaginarium.
 
Let me back up a bit. The premise of the movie is something like this: Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) makes a deal with the devil to become immortal. A thousand years later he falls in love with a woman and makes another deal with the devil to remain youthful in order to woo the woman with whom he’s fallen in love. Dr. Parnassus’ end of the bargain is that he must give the devil, known as Mr. Nick in this movie, his child on their 16th birthday. So, we meet Dr. Parnassus and his daughter, Valentina (Cole), a few weeks before her 16th birthday as they work their side-show magic on the people of London. Dr. Parnassus, now 1000 years old in the 21st Century, has the power to bring people into his mind and see into their imagination; this is what they call the imaginarium. He and Mr. Nick have a game they play inside the imaginarium to see whether people will choose a life of evil and darkness (Mr. Nick) or the life of good and self-sacrifice (Dr. Parnassus). In an attempt at one last gamble with Dr. Parnassus, Mr. Nick proposed that the first one to win five souls can keep Valentina, but they only have 2 days to do it.
 
Are you confused yet? Because I am and I haven’t even begun to tell you about the other characters involved in the story. Somehow Percy (Troyer) also obtained immortality and takes part in Dr. Parnassus’ Imaginarium side show. Also involved in the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is Anton (Garfield), a young performer as dedicated as the others to winning souls for the good of humanity who also has a heart for Valentina. The gang stumbles upon Tony (Ledger) one night as he is hanging off a bridge, literally. It seems Tony has gotten himself into a bit of trouble with a group of Russians and is implicated in a well-known charity scam. He pretends to have lost his memory after they save him from the noose so that he can hide out.
 
There is so much going on in the convoluted plot that it can sometimes be hard to keep up with everything. Unfortunately it also means the characters are not well-developed and I’m left wondering why on earth I should care what happens to these characters. Perhaps there was a bit left on the editing room floor, so to speak? Or maybe the scrip itself didn’t lend itself to much character development. The imaginarium scenes were trippy, to say the least, but had great special effects. I enjoyed the performances by Ledger, Cole and Garfield. I do have to admit that producer/director Gilliam cleverly integrated the performances by Depp, Law and Farrell after Ledger’s death left scenes unshot. There was one shot of Depp outside of the imaginarium that was too obvious and did not belong. He did most resemble Ledger, but the shot would have worked just as well from behind.
 
This is the kind of movie that may very well develop a cult following and someday become a cult classic. For me, there were too many holes, too much plot, and not enough character. It had its moments of drama and comedy, but not enough to carry the movie.