The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus by British legend Terry Gilliam is Heath Ledger's final film.  Despite the common belief that his role as the Joker was his last, his unfortunate death occurred a third of the way through filming Imaginarium.  In order to complete the movie, his starring character Tony was recast with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell portraying the role in different scenes.  The footage with Ledger remained as the "real" Tony while the other actors become the character in each of the different worlds of imagination he enters during the course of this trippy film.  I believe this sets a record for the most actors portraying the same character in one film, the honor previously going to the character of Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi (his voice, in costume, and the face behind the mask in the end).

The story centers around the titular Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his band of sideshow performers including vertically challenged Percy (Verne Troyer), sleight of hand master Anton (Andrew Garfield), and his daughter Valentina (Lily Cole).  Through their traveling wagon of mysterium they offer audience members a chance to take a trip through their very imaginations in a literal sense.  There is a catch, however, as while they are on the trip they are presented with a choice in which Parnassus and the Devil Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) vie for their soul as a result of a deal Parnassus made many years before that had something to do with story telling and everlasting life (he's thousands of years old by the way).  While traveling over a bridge they spot Tony (Ledger) hanging, apparently executed by someone who did not like him.  Amazingly he is found to be alive and so joins the rag tag team.  Things get weirder even faster once Tony starts going through the magic mirror of the Imaginarium, as Mr. Nick pulls a few more devious cards from his sleeve.

This film was not given a wide release in the US, and after seeing it I can understand their trepidation. Not only is it stranger than what most American's are used to, it would probably go over their heads as well.  It doesn't help that many of the characters could have almost used subtitles.  Plummer's oft mumbled lines in a thick sauce of an accent are especially hard to understand at times and Ledger's usual smooth voice feels awkwardly clothed in a British accent.  It's not only the plot and lines that are hard to understand, but most everything about this movie including Tony's motivation.  The character may simply be a victim of unfortunate circumstances, but he feels very underdeveloped like chunks of scenes that would have explained him to us and what was going on to him are simply missing.  This makes for an even more jarring experience in already jarring movie.

It's not all bad, however, as Gilliam provides a truly magical world of imagination and mysterious circumstances.  It's different enough to make up for it's short comings and all of the replacement actors are fun to watch.  Waits is fantastic as Mr. Nick though I am sure it is no coincidence that the one character with an American accent was the Devil.  It seems that this movie is a reflection in the Imaginarium mirror instead of the full thing that exists behind the glass.  A lot of potential but it just didn't quite get to where it needed to go.  This is worth a watch if you a fan of Gilliam, the fantastically odd or Ledger's final performance, otherwise I would say you might want to skip this one.

*** 3/5 stars