The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Director:

Terry Gilliam

Writers:

Terry Gilliam (written by)
Charles McKeown (written by)

Release Date:

16 October 2009 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Mystery

Plot:

A traveling theater company gives its audience much more than they were expecting. |

Plot Keywords:

Levitating | Immortality | Sleight Of Hand | Dream World | Shopping District

Awards:

5 nominations

US Showtimes:

AMC Century City 15

9:40am | 12:45pm | 4:00 | 7:00 | 10:00

(personalize)

Cast

Andrew Garfield	...	Anton
Christopher Plummer	...	Doctor Parnassus
Richard Riddell	...	Martin
Katie Lyons	...	Martin's Girlfriend
Richard Shanks	...	Friend of Martin
Lily Cole	...	Valentina
Verne Troyer	...	Percy
Bruce Crawford	...	Face Changed Martin
Johnny Harris	...	Policeman
Lorraine Cheshire	...	Mum
Mark Benton	...	Dad
Lewis Gott	...	Diego
Sian Scott	...	Linda
Simon Day	...	Uncle Bob (as Simon Daye)
Moya Brady	...	Aunty Flo

Also Known As:

L'Imaginarium du Docteur Parnassus (France)
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (International: English title) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violent images, some sensuality, language and smoking.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

UK | Canada | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Norway:11 | UK:12A | Ireland:12A | New Zealand:PG | Australia:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Spain:7 | Japan:PG12 | South Korea:12 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

Battersea Power Station, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Infinity Features Entertainment

Trivia:

Colin Farrell and Christopher Plummer had previously been in Alexander (2004) and The New World (2005) together.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Johnny Depp jumps through the curtain he shouts "Never believe what you read in The Sun," whereas in fact his deceiving life story was published in the Daily Mail.

Quotes:

Tony: [From trailer]
[Introducing the Imaginarium]
Tony: ... the *extraordinary* Dr. Par-nassus!

Movie Connections:

Edited into "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross: (#17.4)" (2009)

This ambitious project is often remarkable to look out but is ultimately muddled and ostentatious

Nobody makes a movie like Terry Gilliam. For better or worse, the director of Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas puts on screen whatever happens to be in his head. You can't expect coherence, plausibility or realism to enter into the proceedings; they are pushed aside for weird and wonderful images, fantasy sequences and warped stories. Imaginarium follows this trend. Too much, in fact. Gilliam's embellishments come off feeling self-indulgent and pretentious. The term 'overbearing' is synonymous with Gilliam at the best of times, but it fits the bill more than normal here. Nobody is asking for a sacrifice of artistic integrity, however a straighter line every now and then would serve him, and this film, well.

Gilliam's faults begin with his screenplay. Superfluous and bloated in many parts, it can never really find its feet due to extended scenes which are really just not necessary. The moral of the story is not only metaphorically hammered home but by the midway point becomes boring and monotonous to boot. We understand that regret can be a heavy burden to carry; is it necessary to remind us every minute of the entire 122 minute runtime? Repetitiveness aside, Gilliam at least manages to make the twists and turns unpredictable and fun to watch, the final reveal about Tony is a corker and most definitely unexpected.

Witnessing the final performance of Ledger is emotionally confusing. You desperately want this to be a turn worthy of remembering him by, the ultimate swansong to match The Dark Knight, yet deep down it is apparent this is nowhere near his best work. Perhaps if he got to finish the role things might have been different, as it stands Depp, Law and Farrell admirably flesh out the remaining of his role. Playing the eponymous Doc, Plummer is solid and reliable, if never overly outstanding whilst newcomer Cole is intriguing as the porcelain-like heroine; should be interesting to see how she fares with roles that require more than just reacting. The absolute standout is Waits, his smooth and arrogant Devil is worth the price of admission all on his own.

This ambitious project is often remarkable to look out but is ultimately muddled and ostentatious.

2.5 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Ordinary, 3 - Good, 4 - Excellent, 5 - Classic)