The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

[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.

[

Show Spoiler

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]

[

Show Spoiler

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