Visionary director Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” is a true feat of imagination and one his best films in recent years. Faced with a slew of challenges to the production, including the unfortunate and untimely death of Heath Ledger (Tony), the film delves seamlessly between imagination, reality, good, and evil. Gilliam has said that the film is his “Amarcord,” and like Fellini, he basks in the environment that he knows best; which for Gilliam are these magical and fantastical worlds. We meet the aged Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) as he is approached once again by the devil, Mr. Nick (wickedly played by Tom Waits). Mr. Nick has come to collect on a wager in which the life of Parnassus’ daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), would be his prize. Parnassus sets out with his traveling Imaginarium in a new wager with Mr. Nick, to be the first to entice five souls, in the hope of winning back his daughter. Tony (Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrell) aids Parnassus in this journey by gathering people to step beyond the magic mirror into a world of their wildest imaginations. Despite the tragedy in the midst of making this film, in the words of Dr. Parnassus, “you can’t stop a story being told” and as the credits roll, you certainly feel the magic behind “A Film From Heath Ledger and Friends.”
No comments:
Post a Comment