The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Director Terry Gilliam has a knack for making escapism you can’t escape from. The absurd worlds he created in past films, such as “Brazil,” “Time Bandits” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” grant a freedom from narrative and common sense, but are rooted in deep truths about mankind. His films require an unconditional surrender of the mind in exchange of blissful release layered thickly over often dark tales. “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” follows a similar formula, but the payoff is tainted in this film, which gets weighed down at times in its own plot.

Dr. Parnassus, played by Christopher Plummer, is an ancient shaman with the ability to send people into a physical representation of their own imaginations with the use of his crafty mirror. His traveling theater troupe is comprised of his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole), who dreams of escaping her life on the road; the love-sick and desperate Anton (Andrew Garfield); and the wisecracking dwarf, Percy (Verne Troyer). They park their richly detailed and dilapidated mobile stage outside seedy bars across London, putting on performances for unappreciative drunken crowds.

Dr. Parnassus, for all his wisdom, can be a foolish man. After a tragic deal made with the devilish Mr. Nick, played by Tom Waits in the films best performance, Dr. Parnassus will lose Valentina to him on her fast-approaching 16th birthday. So he makes one last bet to keep his daughter and embarks on a race to collect five human souls before Mr. Nick, a task accomplished by sending customers into the imaginarium to sacrifice their greed and vices.

Dr. Parnassus wants nothing more than for mankind to think for itself and get rid of material obsessions. A drunk bar hopper that enters the mirror must choose between the hard work of scaling a mountain or popping in for a quick drink at a bar. A wealthy older woman sees a world of designer shoes and handbags and herself as slim and younger. The symbolic, metaphysical plot that drives this story can be pesky. The film lies somewhere between escapism and serious metaphor. This personality disorder could have been a boon for the film by making it a fantasy with an edge, but instead, it oscillates across this spectrum too frequently and it is easy to get lost along the story, and for some, maybe even in the first twenty minutes.

But the reward for persistence is great. The contrast Gilliam establishes between the muted tones and broken down scenery of London and the vibrant colors, angles and curves of the imaginarium is the pleasure center of the story. In his characteristic hyper-real visual style, Gilliam makes it easy to surrender the mind to the delicious contrast of reality and fantasy. But even the so-called real world in “Imaginarium” feels distorted. The use of wide angle lenses exaggerates sizes and creates an incredible deep focus that feels too glossy to be anything from the known world.

This film was Heath Ledger’s final performance, one he did not complete. Ledger plays Tony, a questionable philanthropist rescued by Dr. Parnassus’ gang and who subsequently joins them to hide from a shameful past. It is yet another excellent performance from the late Ledger. After Ledger’s death, Gilliam revised the script to explain that Tony changed physically whenever he entered the mirror and cast Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to finish shooting the imaginarium versions of Tony. The rewriting works and each actor does an admirable job fulfilling the character Ledger began. But it cannot be denied that the shift in actors and knowing this was Ledger’s last role has an effect on the experience of the movie. It is no fault of the film, but being briefly removed from the story whenever Ledger is replaced by another actor brings disbelief and logic back to the table, if only for a moment. It is hard to not imagine that the movie would have been better if Tony was played by the same actor.

Gilliam’s wonderful visual style accentuates a tale about rescuing the imagination from worldly objects and desires. Surreal twists and turns give the film enough buoyancy to keep from floating down too close to reality, but running just over two hours, the film is far too long and can overwhelm just as easy as it inspires. Dr. Parnassus’ traveling show is really Gilliam’s manifesto, surprising its participants with a freeing mental escape and a look at how truly incredible the imagination can be.