The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

[Amnesiac]

...

[Sven]

Or it could turn out like Tideland...

... and be one of his best?

[Amnesiac]

... and be one of his best?

Sure.

[Ezee E]

Tideland... at least it wasn't as bad as The Brothers Bloom

[NickGlass]

Tideland... at least it wasn't as bad as The Brothers Bloom

Do you, by chance, mean The Brothers Grimm?

[Ezee E]

Do you, by chance, mean The Brothers Grimm?
That's the one.

[Amnesiac]

http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/legerparnassus.jpg

First (official) look at Ledger.

[Qrazy]

I really, really hope this is good. Come on Gilliam I know you have it in you.

[Qrazy]

They should really release at least a teaser for this puppy. 'The projected release date for this film so far is June 6, 2009, although it is not likely to be released until September 24, 2009.'

I mean it's been in post production for a while.

The film has what looks like Gilliam's biggest budget (30 Million) since 12 Monkeys (29 Million) and Munchausen (Estimated 46 Million). Although it's probably a bit less than both with inflation. Oh actually The Brothers Grimm had a budget of 88 Million... yeesh.

[megladon8]

Sometimes I think Terry Gilliam is one of the greatest directors that ever lived.

He has some really bad misses, but when he hits, he hits them out of the park.

[Qrazy]

Sometimes I think Terry Gilliam is one of the greatest directors that ever lived.

He has some really bad misses, but when he hits, he hits them out of the park.

The first three are favorites. The middle three are above average. The last three are below average with a couple redeeming moments/ideas.

# Brazil (1985)
# Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
# Twelve Monkeys (1995)

# Time Bandits (1981)
# The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983)

# The Fisher King (1991)

# Tideland (2005)
# The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
# The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Been too long to rank Jabberwocky.

[monolith94]

Jabberwocky is the only one of his I disslike, really. I can find something to like even in his modern, unpopular films. The Brothers Grimm was a hoot.

[Qrazy]

Jabberwocky is the only one of his I disslike, really. I can find something to like even in his modern, unpopular films. The Brothers Grimm was a hoot.

Ehh I found a lot of the humor fell flat (all of Pryce's bits for instance) but I did like select moments and imagery... little red riding hood FTW.

[Pop Trash]

Sometimes I think Terry Gilliam is one of the greatest directors that ever lived.

He has some really bad misses, but when he hits, he hits them out of the park.
Yeesh...he's probably on my list of most overrated.

[Qrazy]

Yeesh...he's probably on my list of most overrated.

Richard Kelly's on my list... of directors it's not worth my time to list on any other list. ;)

[monolith94]

Ehh I found a lot of the humor fell flat (all of Pryce's bits for instance) but I did like select moments and imagery... little red riding hood FTW.
I'm a fan of anything Pryce, so that whole selection worked for me.

[Qrazy]

I'm a fan of anything Pryce, so that whole selection worked for me.

I love Pryce too but his performances both here and in Munchausen didn't work for me at all.

Favorite Pryce performances (don't remember his role in Age of Innocence and haven't seen most of his movies... he deserves to have had a better career):

1. Brazil
2. Glengarry Glen Ross
3. Ronin
4. The New World
5. Pirates films

[Spun Lepton]

Brothers Grimm was a debacle. It would've probably been a lot better had Gilliam not had a meltdown with the studio. He readily admitted that he half-assed it out of spite.

[monolith94]

I love Pryce too but his performances both here and in Munchausen didn't work for me at all.

Favorite Pryce performances (don't remember his role in Age of Innocence and haven't seen most of his movies... he deserves to have had a better career):

1. Brazil
2. Glengarry Glen Ross
3. Ronin
4. The New World
5. Pirates films
He was a great villain in Something Wicked This Way Comes, very sinister. And according to imdb: "He won a 1980 Laurence Olivier Award for his depiction of Hamlet, a performance made famous by his also playing the role of Hamlet's father's ghost as a regurgitated voice."

What I would give to have been there... sadly, I wasn't born yet.

[megladon8]

I still can't help but get this weird, kind of surreal feeling from seeing Heath Ledger's face in promotional photos for a new film.

[monolith94]

goddamn, I want a real trailer

[Qrazy]

Clip from the film. (http://imaginarium-doctor-parnassus-trailer.blogspot.com/)

16 seconds of Heath Ledger.

[eternity]

Real trailer. (http://postavant.com/2009/08/the-imaginarium-of-dr-parnassus-uk-trailer/)

[Sven]

Real trailer. (http://postavant.com/2009/08/the-imaginarium-of-dr-parnassus-uk-trailer/)

Huh. Well, it looks like typical Gilliam shenanigans, that's for shizzle.

[B-side]

Looks amazing. I can't wait.

[Milky Joe]

Looks amazing. I can't wait.

Wholeheartedly agree.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I think I like it.

[B-side]

Wholeheartedly agree.

You would.

;)

[Wryan]

Back to Baron Munchausen, huh? All I can say to that is...

FUCKING YES!

[Henry Gale]

The trailer pretty much blew my mind.

I mean I was already looking forward to it due to the premise, cast and Gilliam's general enthusiasm towards the project that I haven't seen him have for anything in a long time, but WOW all the footage shown is just incredible. Plus, Waits as Satan looks every bit as perfect as I'd hoped.

I'm now finding myself looking forward to more films this year than any other time I can remember.

[EyesWideOpen]

Wow, that looks fantastic. I'm a huge fan of 12 Monkeys but haven't really enjoyed his other work I've seen. I thought Brazil was ok, The Brothers Grimm and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas were awful and it's been too long since I've seen Time Bandits but I loved it as a kid.

[Qrazy]

Back to Baron Munchausen, huh? All I can say to that is...

FUCKING YES!

Baron Munchausen is one of his worst. It's a complete mess both tonally, structurally and dramatically. As to be expected from Gilliam there are a couple of inspired visuals but that's about it.

[Sven]

It's a complete mess both tonally, structurally and dramatically.

This for me describes pretty much everything he has done, with the exception of the Crimson Permanent Assurance.

[Qrazy]

This for me describes pretty much everything he has done, with the exception of the Crimson Permanent Assurance.

I find the drama and his control over the atmosphere very strong in 12 Monkeys, Brazil and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[Spun Lepton]

I think I came a little.

[KK2.0]

watched trailer = :pritch:


The trailer pretty much blew my mind.

I mean I was already looking forward to it due to the premise, cast and Gilliam's general enthusiasm towards the project that I haven't seen him have for anything in a long time, but WOW all the footage shown is just incredible. Plus, Waits as Satan looks every bit as perfect as I'd hoped.

I'm now finding myself looking forward to more films this year than any other time I can remember.

Glad to hear Gilliam is enthusiastic about it, he had so many troubled, if not disastrous projects along his carreer: Brazil, the canned La Mancha film, Baron munchausen, Brothers Grimm...

His films are often excessive and weird, even the commercial ones, he must be a bit of a nightmare to work with in terms of production.

[Qrazy]

The trailer is way over edited but the footage looks quality. I'm anticipating despite being very underwhelmed with his last two.

[Ezee E]

Loved that.

[Spun Lepton]

Visually cued by Rosencrantz & Gildenstern Are Dead, Willy Wonka, Clockwork Orange, the painting of Salvador Dali, One From The Heart and Prospero's Books to name but a few things that immediately spring to mind, it's then been blended in Gilliam's own whirlwind mind with the rest of his oeuvre. Parnassus is thus a heavily spiked cocktail of imagery and imagination that is as joyous as it is uncomforting and uneven. When it flies, it really flies, but when it wanes, the lull is amplified exponentially.

Read the rest of the review:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/340068/the_imaginarium_of_doctor_parn assus_review.html

[Raiders]

Parnassus is thus a heavily spiked cocktail of imagery and imagination that is as joyous as it is uncomforting and uneven. When it flies, it really flies, but when it wanes, the lull is amplified exponentially.

So, in other words, it is a Terry Gilliam movie.

[Spun Lepton]

So, in other words, it is a Terry Gilliam movie.

(*boot*)

[Wryan]

Baron Munchausen is one of his worst. It's a complete mess both tonally, structurally and dramatically.

No to first. Well, duh to second.

[KK2.0]

Exactly, Gilliam's films are often hard to follow, but i love them.

[[ETM]]

His 12 Monkeys was, and still is, one of my most compelling moviegoing experiences... it was unbelievable: next morning in school, pretty much everybody had seen it, even kids who I thought had no interest in such tales, everyone loved it about the same, and dozens of people were there for hours talking about it and shooting out theories. It was like... a forum, in real life. Only without trolls. And Qrazy.

[Spun Lepton]

Exactly, Gilliam's films are often hard to follow, but i love them.

They are?? News to me.

[KK2.0]

They are?? News to me.

They are to me. I'm slow.

[Qrazy]

;213826']His 12 Monkeys was, and still is, one of my most compelling moviegoing experiences... it was unbelievable: next morning in school, pretty much everybody had seen it, even kids who I thought had no interest in such tales, everyone loved it about the same, and dozens of people were there for hours talking about it and shooting out theories. It was like... a forum, in real life. Only without trolls. And Qrazy.

You realize I said I really like 12 Monkeys right? Jerkfacemcgee.

[Qrazy]

No to first. Well, duh to second.

I don't find Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing or Time Bandits dramatically, structurally or tonally messy. I find them to be structurally complex, tonally layered and dramatically successful.

[[ETM]]

You realize I said I really like 12 Monkeys right? Jerkfacemcgee.

:lol:
The movie was not the issue.

[Wryan]

I don't find Brazil, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing or Time Bandits dramatically, structurally or tonally messy. I find them to be structurally complex, tonally layered and dramatically successful.

It was the other inflection, the one meaning, "Well duh, but I love it all the same, maybe because of that..."

[Qrazy]

It was the other inflection, the one meaning, "Well duh, but I love it all the same, maybe because of that..."

Ahh got ya.

[Winston*]

Tom Waits is awesome in this movie.

[Boner M]

Tom Waits is awesome in this movie.
Any good, overall? Been wondering if I should take advantage of the pre-stateside release, but I'm only a casual Gilliam fan, and the trailers/footage I've seen isn't particularly enticing.

[Winston*]

Any good, overall? Been wondering if I should take advantage of the pre-stateside release, but I'm only a casual Gilliam fan, and the trailers/footage I've seen isn't particularly enticing.
I liked it but it's a bit awkward. Not the film to sell one on Gilliam I think. Wouldn't discourage you from seeing it though.

Might've liked it more if I hadn't had twelve year olds in the back of the theatre doing their best to ruin the film for everyone.

[Qrazy]

This was fairly weak. I don't think Gilliam knows how to make a film anymore. As in all of his films this one features a large number of imaginative moments and fascinating imagery, and that's nice, but it's not enough. His sequences have no sense of tension or inertia. The film lacks focus and there's no energy sustaining it. The characters are thinly drawn and the dialogue is inconsequential. The story also kind of sucks and doesn't come to a satisfying conclusion (I"m not referring to what happens to Parnassus at the very end, but what happens to the peripheral characters). Waits is a lot of fun. There are some inventive ideas and with Ledger's death the themes of the film carry highly meta-connotations. It's probably better than The Brothers Grimm, and worse than Tideland but none of his most recent three carry the structural, aesthetic and thematic purposiveness of his best work.

[EyesWideOpen]

I'm surprised this movie is getting such a big release. Starting friday it's playing in almost every theater around me.

[[ETM]]

I'm surprised this movie is getting such a big release. Starting friday it's playing in almost every theater around me.

It has big names, plus "Ledger's last film!" all over it.

[baby doll]

It's pretty good. A little confused in spots, but worth checking out. Weirdly enough, it's almost a remake of Guys and Dolls with Christopher Plummer in the Jean Simmons role, and Heath Ledger as Sky Masterson.

[Qrazy]

It's pretty good. A little confused in spots, but worth checking out. Weirdly enough, it's almost a remake of Guys and Dolls with Christopher Plummer in the Jean Simmons role, and Heath Ledger as Sky Masterson.

Oh true it is a bit like that except for the fact that it isn't at all.

[baby doll]

Oh true it is a bit like that except for the fact that it isn't at all.Well, the Imaginarium's all about saving souls, like the mission in Guys and Dolls, which is too pure to attract anyone, until Sky Masterson helps her get some people in the door--much like Heath Ledger's character in Gilliam's film. Never-mind that the devil in this film is as much a betting man as Nathan Detroit.

[Qrazy]

Well, the Imaginarium's all about saving souls, like the mission in Guys and Dolls, which is too pure to attract anyone, until Sky Masterson helps her get some people in the door--much like Heath Ledger's character in Gilliam's film. Never-mind that the devil in this film is as much a betting man as Nathan Detroit.

So both feature gambling, 'soul saving', and new marketing campaigns... you might as well say it's a remake of Lemonade Joe.

[Adam]

Well, I've never seen Guys and Dolls, but I loved Imaginarium. I would say that if you're a fan of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, this will be your cup of tea since it shares a similar sensibility. Along with maybe The Brother's Grimm, those are the three Gilliams that probably have the weakest traditional narratives, although all three are still very fun and visually interesting, I think

[Qrazy]

Well, I've never seen Guys and Dolls, but I loved Imaginarium. I would say that if you're a fan of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, this will be your cup of tea since it shares a similar sensibility. Along with maybe The Brother's Grimm, those are the three Gilliams that probably have the weakest traditional narratives, although all three are still very fun and visually interesting, I think

I found the majority of the dramatic connections between the characters and the humor fell flat.

[Winston*]

My favourite part was how even when it flashes back to hundreds of years ago, Tom Waits' Devil still has the thirties style suit and cigarette holder.

[Ivan Drago]

This is playing near me starting on Friday. Can't wait!

[NickGlass]

My favourite part was how even when it flashes back to hundreds of years ago, Tom Waits' Devil still has the thirties style suit and cigarette holder.

My favorite parts were when Tom Waits was on screen and...oh yeah, that's the only good aspect of the film.

[Henry Gale]

I liked this quite a bit, but for me it only started and ended at its full potential. I really just wish they had found a way to spend more time in the Imaginarium. Whether it was because of budget or simply wanting to focus the story on the real-world stuff (which for the most part I found kinda weak), this the sort of movie where it has the capacity to go all out at all times, but sadly suffers when it isn't doing so.

The first 10 minutes or so are some of the best stuff I've seen from any 2009 film. Sadly after that it takes a while to ever get back to the sort of scope and wonder. And instead of feeling like a breath of fresh air when the dream world does return, it almost feels like too little too late. Thankfully though, it all comes back in full force towards the end in the moments leading up to Colin Farrell-Tony's segment leading towards a finale that completely won be back over to the ideas within the palatial visuals it had teased early on.

Plummer is very strong and the scenes that find him and Ledger one-on-one are where both of them are the most exciting. But had it not been his final performance, I don't think as much attention would have been paid to Ledger here. He's completely charismatic, but as it is it's also an incomplete performance for obvious and tragic reasons. Not that much more could have been done other than what's here, but within the narrative of the movie, he definitely disappears once the other actors need to step in for him. The whole idea of the other actors makes it difficult to completely associate the journey of Tony when new recognizable faces are constantly jumping in to play him throughout the second half. Having said that, everyone is very good.

The rest of the cast is a really random bunch, but that almost works perfectly for this. Aside from Jude Law, Farrell (who does the best work, though also having the advantage of the most screen time) and J. Depp stepping in for Ledger in the dreamy bits, there's Tom Waits as awesome and hysterically funny as anyone in anything in recent memory, Andrew Garfield who plays the most grounded character but never quite makes the impression he should, and Verne Troyer who... well, has a role definitely written for someone of his stature, but at the same time he speaks like a Brit with an American accent and doesn't find a way of being convincing beyond that. Lily Cole is the one who really surprised me because even though she hadn't done much beyond modelling before this, she finds a way of locking into her character as the real heart of the film more than any other performance and justifies her importance to the story with her alluring and smartly layered presence in almost every scene.

So I'd say it's definitely worth checking out. The whole thing has a really wide-eyed, joyful feel even when it's dealing with its big and heavy mortality themes mixed along its soul-selling and silly Russian mobster plot points. The visuals are astounding because even if the effects aren't always consistent, the core design of the worlds hold it together and that's when glimpses of brilliance shine through amongst all of its ambitions. I think despite it's flaws, what works here comes down to the amount of heart put in by everyone behind it and the way that's so charmingly and clearly displayed throughout it makes it a very enjoyable experience.

***1/2 / ****

[chrisnu]

This made even less sense than I expected it to. The visuals are quite engrossing, however, and Tom Waits was a lot of fun.

[Qrazy]

Did anyone else find the overall story arc with Ledger's character to be fairly crappy?

[chrisnu]

Did anyone else find the overall story arc with Ledger's character to be fairly crappy?
Yes. There's probably supposed to be some social commentary in there somewhere, but it was very muddy.

[Qrazy]

Yes. There's probably supposed to be some social commentary in there somewhere, but it was very muddy.

The whole end of the film with him a) having sex with the girl in the father's mind b) turning out to be bad and then being hung c) the girl ending up with the other guy even though she just had sex with Ledger's character... it all seemed arbitrary and rubbed me the wrong way. I almost felt like none of the characters or actors understood their own motivations.

[balmakboor]

Our local Carmike has this listed in the newspaper and on their marquee as "The Imagination of Doctor Pharnassus." God they're hopeless.

[chrisnu]

The whole end of the film with him a) having sex with the girl in the father's mind b) turning out to be bad and then being hung c) the girl ending up with the other guy even though she just had sex with Ledger's character... it all seemed arbitrary and rubbed me the wrong way. I almost felt like none of the characters or actors understood their own motivations.
I agree entirely. Ship without a rudder.

[Grouchy]

I actually liked this a lot. I thought the dreamlike elements in the Imaginarium were awesome and recalled good Monty Python moments. The film is like a summary of Terry Gilliam - probably not a good introduction to the director, but a treat for his fans. The whole cast is excellent, and the idea of the different actors for Heath Ledger actually works very well, as if it was planned from the start. Johnny Depp's entry, in particular, is amazingly seamless. Overall, I was very satisfied, and in the middle of the delirium I found it a very emotional experience.

[Adam]

The film is like a summary of Terry Gilliam - probably not a good introduction to the director, but a treat for his fans.

I also kind of loved Imaginarium and I agree with this statement. If the things people have criticized the film for were corrected, then it wouldn't be a Terry Gilliam movie. And of course, yeah, it's all very poignant considering Gilliam's career and Ledger's death

[Ezee E]

Could any movie have benefitted anymore than Imaginarium if it were in 3D? Perhaps another Gilliam, but it'd be tough.

A silly story, but so imaginative it keeps me watching and wanting more. As mentioned, a true summary of Gilliam's career highlighted by scenestealer Tom Waits and newcomer Lily Cole. Really disappointed that I didn't catch this on the big screen.