The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus tells the story of the immortal Dr Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his magical Imaginarium, a travelling show in which a volunteer from the audience gets to experience their greatest need in vivid forms and then has to choose between two paths. Choose correctly and you will be enlightened, choose wrongly and things won’t be so good for you. Dr Parnassus however has a very dark secret; he once made a bet with Mr Nick the Devil (Tom Waits), in which he won immortality. Centuries later, he decided to trade his immortality with youth when he met his one true love, on the condition that his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) belongs to Mr Nick when she reaches 16. The daughter is now reaching that consenting age, and Mr Nick comes to collect but Dr Parnassus is not about to let go. However, being the devil that he is, Mr Nick renewed the wager: Whoever entices the first 5 souls wins Valentina.
Enter Tony (the late Heath Ledger), a mysterious man found hanging under a bridge by the Imaginarium crews and was revived by Anton (Andrew Garfield) to join the show and eventually make it successful. However, there’s something about Tony that makes Parnassus’ loyal friend Percy (Verne Troyer) uneasy. Tony’s shady backgrounds and friendship with Valetina also make the jealous Percy more anxious. Dr Parnassus on the other hand is happy with Tony and he promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to whoever that helps him win the bet. A race against time and choices of morality ensues in the wonderland that is the Imaginarium.
Terry Gilliam directed this painting of a movie wonderfully with timing and pace coherently controlled. He gives us not just a great story but a whole world so outstandingly created with visual effect and cinematography that might leave you wondering where you are at the end of the movie and where you were during it. The Imaginarium, with its doorway made of simple foil sheets, is filled with random worlds produced by people’s mind which is so vivid and mysterious and weird. This whole film is weird. But in a good way.
What most might notice is the fact that the script and dialogues flow and form so smoothly and realistically that it is like watching real people in real situation. Heath Ledger did improvise some of his line and that fact alone proves how great an actor he is. Although you might find his acting a bit similar to last year’s most famous villain, The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) which, of course, he himself played. His acting is believable, since he is an Australian playing British. Then there are Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, each playing the different version of Tony when he enters the Imaginarium. The three actors played that one role so well that they disappeared into Heath Ledger’s character so effectively that you are seeing a man whose face had changed and not a change in the person himself.
But of course, this is not a story about Tony but Dr Parnassus (as in the title). Christopher Plummer did well playing a failing, sometimes drunken, side-show immortal and he provided enough mystical quality for the character. There are also several flashback scenes of a younger Parnassus also played by him. Tom Waits, played the Devil brilliantly with his growly voice and dark demeanour. Lily Cole proved that she can show real raw emotion in some scenes. Verne Troyer plays a lovable Percy, equipped with fast witty comments and wise words. And Andrew Garfield plays the distress young man, Anton.The score is great. Nothing ground-breaking but the music disappears and becomes a part of the scene. A great touch is when whenever Mr Nick appears, the score changes to something jazzy or bluesy.
The storyline itself is something to be loved and the twist and turns of the plot is something to be admired. It’s one thing people might not expect from most CGI-laden movies. But the story will grip you and make you captivated so strangely that you will sit through the 120 minutes of runtime just to see how the story ends. The writers Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown deserve an applause for handling such complicated story so well.
It is basically a story about a father protecting his teenage daughter from everything else in the world. But what makes it unique is the fact that is it layered with metaphors and references about religion, the battle between good and evil, the choices people made, impressions people put up and have to put upto and the morality behind each of our action.
Not many people will like this movie simply because of its strange nature. The storyline itself is quiet confusing and its combination with the weird graphic of the Imaginarium world does not help at all. Some parts need a second viewing which I’m sure will be a rewarding watch. But if you understand it, I expect you will love The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.