The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

"The Imaginarium does not cost a thing. We're not here for money."

I have a friend that I went to High School with who loves Terry Gilliam. I had never heard of him. He sent me a message with a link to this trailer and I was very interested. After seeing this this I can see why he is a fan. He is very creative and a bit off the wall.

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus was Heath Ledgers final movie. He sadly died during the filming of this movie, That set back left the door open for even more of Mr. Gilliam's madness to make a movie great. All of the Scenes in which Ledgers character, Tony, goes into the Imaginarium he is played by a different person. Sometimes Jude Law, sometimes Johnny Depp or Collin Farrel.

The story is of a group of gypsies who roam around putting on "shows" for people. Little do they know that they are all a part of a bet between Dr. Parnassus, played by Chrstopher Plummer and Mr. Nick(Satan) played by Tom Waits. They have made a pact that when Valentina turns 16 that she will become property of Mr. Nick. When they come across tony hanging under a bridge he joins the traveling show and finds he has the power to create worlds of his own behind the looking glass. He discovers what is going on and tries to put a stop to it.

I must say how much I enjoyed the character Anton played by Andrew Garfield. I thought he was great. I have never seen him in any of his other movies. I guess he play a role in this years hit The Social Network. In this movie he is great. He plays such an enjoyable role.

This film made me realize a few things. First off Terry Gilliam is awesome. Second He is a genius. Third that he is Crazy, and finally that Tom Waits should play (and usually does) Satan in every movie. The scenes in this film were great. Many CGI scenes made me think of a dark Dr. Seuss Book. Dr. Seuss crossed with the touch of a modern day Tim Burton. I need to revisit this movie and watch it in one sitting. I unfortunately watched it over the course of a few days. That never helps in the continuity of a film.

I did like this one. It is a film that you can get something from each time you watch it. The color was fantastic, the ides were amazing. The characters were well played and the theories/theology well thought out.

6.5 out of 10