Movie Review: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Terry Gilliam you magnificent bastard, you are brilliant but I’m sure that not only do you already know that, you also don’t give a toss as to what I say. Terry Gilliam is a name that often pops up in my top 50 movies of all time list, being the director of such films as Twelve Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Brothers Grimm. He returns to the spotlight not only as Producer but as writer of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the highly anticipated final movie featuring the late Heath Ledger.

The tale of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a simple one (as long as you take the time to read the press notes before you see the movie). Set in the present day, we meet Dr Parnassus and his travelling sideshow who journey throughout the country to offer the public the chance to experience his “Imaginarium”, a magical portal that allows any passer-through to experience their own imagination as a physical entity. They stumble upon a mysterious stranger (Ledger) with a forgotten past who joins the sideshow to help them win a bet with the devil.

Or something like that.

The screenplay is to blame for the majority of the faults of this film. Monotonous, superfluous and often un-watchable, the movie just feels incomplete and rushed. The story is full of attempted symbolism that is either poorly translated to the viewer or tries way too hard. Many long scenes that served little or no purpose were book-ended by integral scenes that were way too short or underplayed. Many have defended this due to Ledger’s death but analysis of the main and sub plots, would suggest a modest screenplay shuffle could have easily saved the movie.

The only redeeming feature of the film is Lily Cole, who plays Valentina, Daughter to the Doctor. Her on-screen presence was captivating with her doll-like features and old fashioned beauty and leaves me hungry to witness her upcoming performance as Alice in the Marilyn Manson movie ‘Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll’.

Walking into the cinema, you find yourself wanting to love this film with the names like Giliam and Ledger however this is one movie that should have never been released, at least not in the state that it is. Then again, the movie was slow paced, full of poorly fleshed-out characters and is set in a land just like ours, only slightly disjointed – sounds like any other Gilliam flick yet it falls flat on it’s face.

Utterly abysmal.

No really, I wanted to gouge out my eyes and give them to homeless people to feast upon after seeing this film.

★✩✩✩✩

Have you seen the film? Want to see the film? Hit up the comments below and make it look like I have readers to this blog!

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is currently playing in theatres accross Australia.

Disclaimer, this movie was reviewed using a complimentary ticket.

November 9th, 2009 // Reviews