Trying to come up with some kind of rating for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is quite a challenge indeed. On one hand, the plot goes absolutely nowhere, the ending is nearly incoherent and the point seems lost in an overly symbolical climax. On the other hand, the movie is absolutely beautiful, some characters are beyond excellent and the ideas behind it are tremendously original. And I'm an absolute sucker for originality.
Imaginarium makes no bones about being completely out-of-this-world from the outset, following a troupe of actors and mystics. The leader, Dr. Parnassus, is mostly silent on stage, rumoured to be an immortal who has lived 1000 years. Also following are Parnassus' 15-year-old daughter Valentina, youthful romantic Anton (who is, of course, head-over-heels for Valentina) and wisecracking yet wise midget Percy. They soon run across a mysterious amnesiac stranger, who has new ideas for the show.
Parnassus accepts, because he's made a deal with the devil (given the name Mr. Nick) and needs to collect five souls before the devil does, which he accomplishes by having people enter his Imaginarium, a world inside his/their mind (its difficult to tell just whose mind it is). And so the race is on, and Valentina's life is at stake.
The exact "rules" of this soul-collecting business is never explicitly stated. Some parts near the end involving this simply make little to no sense. In fact, the entire ending is full of mumbo jumbo that probably demands a second viewing. Even with this oddity, the ending is nonetheless exciting.
The middle, however, does drag somewhat. Despite what one might think, the Imaginarium scenes appear in the beginning, then cut out for nearly an hour. The movie doesn't have much steam in the real world, although Ledger's enthusiac salesman performance does give these bits some life to them, as well as any interactions with Percy.
It does, of course, have a very standard love triangle, with Anton and the stranger vying over Valentina's affections. Thankfully, neither suitor is displayed as particularly perfect, but it does feel somewhat by-the-book otherwise. Anton is the sweet, age-appropriate suitor, with a gleam in his eye and jealously in his heart. The stranger (eventually revealed to be named Tony, but I much prefer the early moniker George) is much cooler and more assertive, but there's mysteries in his past. How it all ends up is slightly surprising, but its mostly the same as always for the romantic side of things.
As for the actual imaginarium scenes, if Avatar is a testament to the raw power of CGI, this film is a testament to their artistic value. Likely entirely green-screened, these sequences are quite dazzling, with rivers turning into snakes and sinister Russian mothers. Its like Alice in Wonderland went slightly more over-the-edge, and some while some bits are truly bizarre, its all quite fascinating, especially when it is first re-introduced after the middle.
One of the big buzzes of Parnassus is Ledger's performance, being his last before his untimely death. While he has extraordinary bits as the salesman of the show, the meatier bits in the imaginarium, unfortunately, were not filmed before he passed. In an act of true genius, Gilliam used three other actors to fill in (Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrel), with the explanation being that his appearance changes. Which would have made sense had the other characters had their appearance change as well, although one other exception does occur, giving it somewhat more validity. All three actors pull their weight wonderfully to help the film. Jude Law, in my opinion, was the best of the three, although Farrel was also great with likely the most screen time and dramatic impact. Depp was certainly entertaining, but seemed too much like Johnny Depp, clashing a bit with Ledger's characteristics on the outside. Unfortunately, Ledger's character is last seen as one of these forms, leaving the characters sendoff disconnected.
The supporting cast has some big standouts. Plummer is appropriately wise, but does little more than expected. Lily Cole is a beautiful subject for the role, and perfectly exudes youthful naivete, although the character's age sometimes makes her actions squeamish. Verne Troyer (yeah, that Verne Troyer) is exceptional as the comic relief Percy. The true standout is Tom Waits as Mr. Nick, the trickster devil. A stlish mix of clever and evil, Mr. Nick is one of the best villains of the year, and an excellently entertaining performance.
Imaginarium simply must be seen twice to get a proper opinion of the movie. If originality and style is more important than pure dramatic substance for you, then I would recommend this movie, as few like it exist. If you want more substance, look elsewhere.
Imaginarium makes no bones about being completely out-of-this-world from the outset, following a troupe of actors and mystics. The leader, Dr. Parnassus, is mostly silent on stage, rumoured to be an immortal who has lived 1000 years. Also following are Parnassus' 15-year-old daughter Valentina, youthful romantic Anton (who is, of course, head-over-heels for Valentina) and wisecracking yet wise midget Percy. They soon run across a mysterious amnesiac stranger, who has new ideas for the show.
Parnassus accepts, because he's made a deal with the devil (given the name Mr. Nick) and needs to collect five souls before the devil does, which he accomplishes by having people enter his Imaginarium, a world inside his/their mind (its difficult to tell just whose mind it is). And so the race is on, and Valentina's life is at stake.
The exact "rules" of this soul-collecting business is never explicitly stated. Some parts near the end involving this simply make little to no sense. In fact, the entire ending is full of mumbo jumbo that probably demands a second viewing. Even with this oddity, the ending is nonetheless exciting.
The middle, however, does drag somewhat. Despite what one might think, the Imaginarium scenes appear in the beginning, then cut out for nearly an hour. The movie doesn't have much steam in the real world, although Ledger's enthusiac salesman performance does give these bits some life to them, as well as any interactions with Percy.
It does, of course, have a very standard love triangle, with Anton and the stranger vying over Valentina's affections. Thankfully, neither suitor is displayed as particularly perfect, but it does feel somewhat by-the-book otherwise. Anton is the sweet, age-appropriate suitor, with a gleam in his eye and jealously in his heart. The stranger (eventually revealed to be named Tony, but I much prefer the early moniker George) is much cooler and more assertive, but there's mysteries in his past. How it all ends up is slightly surprising, but its mostly the same as always for the romantic side of things.
As for the actual imaginarium scenes, if Avatar is a testament to the raw power of CGI, this film is a testament to their artistic value. Likely entirely green-screened, these sequences are quite dazzling, with rivers turning into snakes and sinister Russian mothers. Its like Alice in Wonderland went slightly more over-the-edge, and some while some bits are truly bizarre, its all quite fascinating, especially when it is first re-introduced after the middle.
One of the big buzzes of Parnassus is Ledger's performance, being his last before his untimely death. While he has extraordinary bits as the salesman of the show, the meatier bits in the imaginarium, unfortunately, were not filmed before he passed. In an act of true genius, Gilliam used three other actors to fill in (Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrel), with the explanation being that his appearance changes. Which would have made sense had the other characters had their appearance change as well, although one other exception does occur, giving it somewhat more validity. All three actors pull their weight wonderfully to help the film. Jude Law, in my opinion, was the best of the three, although Farrel was also great with likely the most screen time and dramatic impact. Depp was certainly entertaining, but seemed too much like Johnny Depp, clashing a bit with Ledger's characteristics on the outside. Unfortunately, Ledger's character is last seen as one of these forms, leaving the characters sendoff disconnected.
The supporting cast has some big standouts. Plummer is appropriately wise, but does little more than expected. Lily Cole is a beautiful subject for the role, and perfectly exudes youthful naivete, although the character's age sometimes makes her actions squeamish. Verne Troyer (yeah, that Verne Troyer) is exceptional as the comic relief Percy. The true standout is Tom Waits as Mr. Nick, the trickster devil. A stlish mix of clever and evil, Mr. Nick is one of the best villains of the year, and an excellently entertaining performance.
Imaginarium simply must be seen twice to get a proper opinion of the movie. If originality and style is more important than pure dramatic substance for you, then I would recommend this movie, as few like it exist. If you want more substance, look elsewhere.