Review: THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is a Failure (But a Fascinating One!)

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Review: Review: IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is a Failure (But a Fascinating One!)

Posted on 25 December 2009 by Brent Hartinger, Editor

Two and a Half Torches (Out of Five)

Put a fork in Terry Gilliam. I think his career as a major film director is done.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, his most eagerly awaited film in years because it happened to be the last movie Heath Ledger ever made, is also his most inaccessible, and not in a good way.

Once word gets out, it will almost certainly be a massive box office flop (despite the Heath Ledger buzz). And since the budget was somewhere between $25 and $45 million, I have a hard time believing that any investor will be willing to indulge him again, especially considering his history of making expensive, often self-indulgent failed films.

And this is a total shame, for two reasons.

First, I’m a huge Gilliam fan, who is responsible for several of my all-time favorite fantasy films: Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Maunchausen. When he’s good, there’s no one better.

I happen to think he’s not only a true visual genius, but a genuine “artist” — someone who listens only to his own inner muse, sticking to his vision. As a result, a Terry Gilliam film is absolutely its own unique creation.

There may be no one else working in films today who is quite as “pure” as he is, and the world needs more like him.

Second, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a failure as a movie, but like all Gilliam failures, it’s a fascinating one.

Dr. Parnassus (an unrecognizable Christopher Plummer, who is sensational in the part) is a thousand years old, having made a deal with the devil (a perfectly cast Tom Waits) to live forever. Now he travels the world as head of a old-fashioned circus show that includes a magic mirror as its centerpiece.

But Dr. Parnassus has unexpectedly given birth to a daughter, and it turns out that in exchange for immortality, the doctor promised the soul of the daughter he never thought he’d have. Now the devil has come to collect — but being the devil, he offers another deal: if the doctor can collect five other souls before the devil does, and the daughter is saved.

The second half of the movie is Dr. Parnassus’s attempt to collect the souls, with help from a mysterious stranger named Tony (Health Ledger, who truthfully doesn’t make much of an impression), luring unsuspecting people into his magic mirror to capture them for the devil.

It’s a terrific premise, and the dimensions beyond the magic mirror, created by the imagination of both Dr. Parnassus and whoever enters it, are absolutely surreal — classic Gilliam in the best possible sense.

Likewise, because Ledger died mid-way through shooting, the director had to come up with some way to “replace” him. As it is, he appears “different” every time he goes into the mirror — and he’s played by different actors: Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, in turn.

It’s seamless and beautifully done.

The problem is that the rest of the movie is such a muddled mess. The first half of the movie is borderline unwatchable, and basic plot exposition is presented in such a confusing, awkward way that you quickly run out of patience. Likewise, it takes way too long to get to the actual story.

The movie perks up considerably in the second half, but I suspect most audiences will have long since checked out. The only reason I didn’t is because I’m such a huge Gilliam fan (and truthfully, he even tried my patience quite a bit).

I’m fascinated to know why the fact the movie clearly doesn’t work wasn’t obvious to Gilliam — or why he didn’t listen if people tried to tell him this. Was Gilliam’s greatest strength — his refusal to compromise his vision — ultimately his own undoing?

A man with great power ignores the nay-sayers, pushing his limits further and further — until he ends up destroying himself completely.

Hey, it almost sounds like a Terry Gilliam movie!

Alas, it’d probably be better than The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

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