A review by Brooks Rich
Terry Gilliam is one of the most ill fated directors of all time. There's a saying where if something can go wrong in film, it will go wrong. That seems to always be the case for a majority of Gilliam's films. Whether it's extreme studio interference, weather delays, or his lead actor dying, Gilliam has faced his fair share of bad luck. One of the reasons I admire the man so much is his tenacity to tell his stories even as things go wrong.
In 2009 the world of film lost a future star. Heath Ledger passed away due to an accidental overdose while on the set of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It was a shocking death as it came before his anticipated role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. When we all saw how good he was in that role, it became devastating and nearly unfathomable. We had just lost one of the finest actors of this generation. Its a stunning performance. There's no way anyone would guess that's Heath Ledger if they didn't already know he was the Joker.
Gilliam's solution to Ledger's death, only half his footage had been shot, was to hire Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play versions of Ledger's character inside the world of Parnassus' mirror. In the film Parnassus can access someone's imagination through the use of his mirror. Yeah it's wacky Gilliam fantasy.
The plot revolves around Doctor Parnassus trying to save the soul of his daughter before her sixteenth birthday as he lost it in a bet to the devil years ago. When his troupe rescues the mysterious Tony, who they found hanging from a bridge, the devil makes a bet with Parnassus where the first one to five souls wins his daughter's soul.
This film has one of the most brilliant pieces of casting I've ever seen. Tom Waits plays the devil, playing opposite Christopher Plummer's Doctor Parnassus. Both men are excellent but Waits is such a perfect fit in that role. He's one of my favorite movie devils.
This is not a great film but it is an interesting film. It is Ledger's last film, Dark Knight was his last completed film. Only Terry Gilliam could make this film. The scenes inside Parnassus's mirror looks like the animated sequences in Monty Python. If you asked if I like this film, I would probably honestly say no. I think it has a lot of really amazing ideas and Waits as the Devil is brilliant as is Ledger but it's too weird for me. Sometimes too much Gilliam is not a good thing.
Terry Gilliam is one of the most ill fated directors of all time. There's a saying where if something can go wrong in film, it will go wrong. That seems to always be the case for a majority of Gilliam's films. Whether it's extreme studio interference, weather delays, or his lead actor dying, Gilliam has faced his fair share of bad luck. One of the reasons I admire the man so much is his tenacity to tell his stories even as things go wrong.
In 2009 the world of film lost a future star. Heath Ledger passed away due to an accidental overdose while on the set of Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It was a shocking death as it came before his anticipated role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. When we all saw how good he was in that role, it became devastating and nearly unfathomable. We had just lost one of the finest actors of this generation. Its a stunning performance. There's no way anyone would guess that's Heath Ledger if they didn't already know he was the Joker.
Gilliam's solution to Ledger's death, only half his footage had been shot, was to hire Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play versions of Ledger's character inside the world of Parnassus' mirror. In the film Parnassus can access someone's imagination through the use of his mirror. Yeah it's wacky Gilliam fantasy.
The plot revolves around Doctor Parnassus trying to save the soul of his daughter before her sixteenth birthday as he lost it in a bet to the devil years ago. When his troupe rescues the mysterious Tony, who they found hanging from a bridge, the devil makes a bet with Parnassus where the first one to five souls wins his daughter's soul.
This film has one of the most brilliant pieces of casting I've ever seen. Tom Waits plays the devil, playing opposite Christopher Plummer's Doctor Parnassus. Both men are excellent but Waits is such a perfect fit in that role. He's one of my favorite movie devils.
This is not a great film but it is an interesting film. It is Ledger's last film, Dark Knight was his last completed film. Only Terry Gilliam could make this film. The scenes inside Parnassus's mirror looks like the animated sequences in Monty Python. If you asked if I like this film, I would probably honestly say no. I think it has a lot of really amazing ideas and Waits as the Devil is brilliant as is Ledger but it's too weird for me. Sometimes too much Gilliam is not a good thing.
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