The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Movie Review
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Movie Review
The Devil May Care
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Legend has it that when Narcissus looked into the water's surface he did not understand that he saw his own likeness, and fell in love with himself. Of course that was long before The Evil Queen, Alice, or Tila Tequila popularized the mirror and the outward projection of inward reflection — still, it never gets old. The notion that you could step through a mirror, beyond your everyday mortal world, and into your wildest fantasies is just one of the many enticements of Terry Gilliam's new film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
This opus has already reached legendary status because it's the swan song of young Oscar-winning actor Heath Ledger. It is the last time any of us will ever see him alive again (and ironically, he is "dead" in his first close-up). But beyond holding the legacy of this generation's James Dean, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is just a flat-out great movie. Period.
I want to plumb its depths again; I feel almost unqualified to review it, having only seen it once. But here I go…
Ledger plays the charismatic Tony: he is literally and figuratively the tarot's "Hanged Man" and he's a mystery wrapped in a riddle, causing conundrum in his clattering wake — even to himself. At first, once he's rescued from the noose by passersby, Tony cries amnesia. Is it really the case, or just a ruse to ensconce himself within the ramshackle family led by patriarch Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer)? Whatever the case, Tony becomes part of the pop-up magical traveling troupe, making clear the allure of being able to fold up your show and move on when things get too hot. While not exactly charlatans or snake-oil pushers, the horse-drawn "Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" caravan is not what it seems. They sell dreams.
Parnassus is an ageing yet immortal showman and magician whose 16-year-old titian-tressed daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) owes her very life and spirit to The Devil, aka Mr. Nick (Tom Waits). It's thanks to her dad's 1,000 year old marker that's come due (in order to woo her mother, Valentina's unborn soul was sold). Parnassus is at his wit's end on how to beat the Devil until the night he sees Tony hanging from that suffocating rope. An idea begins to blossom. Lily's love-struck beau Anton (Andrew Garfield) and Parnassus's right hand man Percy (Verne Troyer) take an instant dislike and distrust to Tony. But Lily is tempted. Or is she the temptress? (Lily… Lilith… Get it? In more than one instance in this film a woman is introduced, and shortly after, the Devil shows up.)
As the movie moves along, you find that it is very much an ensemble piece (Ledger isn't the "star" — if anything, this sideshow is all about Plummer and Cole, who shine as father/daughter, man/woman, husband/wife) and is more about metaphor than meaning. That's where the use of tricky mirror imagery is so very effective. As with Parnassus's paying customers, you begin to feel that if you could just see out from inside the mirror, maybe your own dimension would make sense. That is what the random female clientele are paying for, though dazzled they don't realize they're also helping Parnassus pay his debt to the Devil with five souls in exchange for Lily's one.
Tony is the womens' guide though these chaotic looking glass dimensions, and each time he morphs into whatever they desire. Fragments of tricky Tony are played by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. This was done out of necessity due to Ledger's untimely death partway through filming, but for me the sleight-of-face seemed completely organic. Perhaps it is because I am predisposed to liking this, as I count Todd Haynes's I'm Not There (2007) as one of my favorite films of all time. In that movie (and this is not a new conceit; multiple actors playing aspects of one character is done on occasion in art films) Ledger plays just one physical facet of a Bob Dylan -based character — he shares that role with four other actors, and it's a thing of beauty. Just like The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. With the use of extreme fantasy and stunning visual effects, Ledger and his cohorts ARE Tony. It works.
Now is probably also the time to add that I am a totally gung-ho Gilliam girl: I even love his most universally reviled films Tideland and The Brother Grimm (both from 2005, the latter also featuring Ledger). I just 'get' his vibe. Not everyone does, and those who can't go with the flow are sure to be flummoxed, frustrated, and perhaps even furious. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is agro-Gilliam, all balls-to-the-wall style over substance. Or is it? There they are again; the questions. The reflection of self and the contemplation of the motives of everyone around us. Who can we trust? We can't even trust ourselves, as Tony's amnesia so blatantly illustrates (looking for subtlety? You won't find it here).
I could go on like the ouroboros forever here about God and the Devil/good and evil/man and woman. So I won't. Now onto the cinematic aspects of the movie. It's weird, wicked, wonderful and whacky for sure — much more a dark fantasy than a horror film (Waits' amazing Devil notwithstanding) — but it's also done with finesse, beauty, emotion and aplomb. I understand that Gilliam was working under the worst circumstances possible to complete this film, but magician-like, he managed to make everything reappear as if it were never in jeopardy. The acting is mostly solid (there is one player simply not up to the task), the story is fluid and complex (I need another viewing. In a good way: I want to know more), and the visuals (everything from hair and makeup to costumes to sets to CGI) are absolutely breath-stealing.
In short, this is not a mainstream movie. And Amen to that.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson