Terry Gilliam has always been a deeply imaginative filmmaker, but in recent years, the behind-the-scenes catastrophes that have plagued his shoots have often come close to upstaging the actual movies. That's certainly true of his latest outing, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, although Gilliam's trademark fanciful style helps a lot. How many other major motion pictures could survive the death of their star? Here, Heath Ledger died partway through filming, and the movie shrugged its shoulders and continued on with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell cast as “different aspects” of Ledger's character as seen in various fantasy worlds on the other side of a magic mirror. If that sounds confusing, don't worry — it makes just as much sense as everything else in this movie, which is more concerned with awe and whimsy than anything. If you're trying to make sense out of this film, you're missing the point.
The title character, Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), is an immortal 1,000-year-old man who travels with his ramshackle theatre troupe, letting audiences explore vast dream worlds by passing through a magic mirror. The good doctor has a beautiful daughter named Valentina (Lily Cole) who will become the property of the Devil (Tom Waits) on her 16th birthday as the result of a bet between the old man and “Mr. Nick.” Ledger joins the gang as an amnesiac named Tony who has a few ideas about improving the show, and who flirts with the blushing Valentina.
Tony is a tough character to get a handle on, not surprising considering that he's played by four actors, and he can't remember his own identity. But then, a sense of mystery exists in all of the characters in the film, and “getting” them isn't really the point. Ledger certainly gives a fine performance here, and it's a shame that he died before completing his work on the film.
One of Doctor Parnassus's greatest strengths is gravel-voiced crooner Tom Waits’s performance as the Devil. Waits lends an air of ease, patience and bonhomie to the role, and even manages to make lurking seem much less malevolent than usual. The film is curiously non-judgmental towards this character, who comes across as an old gambling buddy of Plummer's, rather than an adversary. It's a bizarre and interesting approach.
As with any good Gilliam production, eye candy is key. Some of the CGI landscapes look a little tacky, but there are plenty of stunning images of the sort only Gilliam can provide. Plus, the “Imaginarium” setting allows Gilliam to hit us with whatever nonsense he can come up with. In one scene, a bunch of gangsters run away from a chorus line of dancing policemen and hide under the dress of a giant mother figure, before exploding. Where else are you going to see something like that?
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