The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

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

Director:

Terry Gilliam

Writers:

Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown

Stars:

Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Heath Ledger

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In London, the sideshow troupe of Doctor Parnassus promises the audience a journey to the "Imaginarium", an imaginary world commanded by the mind of Doctor Parnassus, where dreams come true. In the stories that Doctor Parnassus tells to his daughter Valentina, the midget Percy, and his assistant Anton, he claims to have lived for more than one thousand years; However, when he fell in love with a mortal woman, he made a deal with the devil (Mr. Nick), trading his immortality for youth. As part of the bargain, he promised his son or daughter to Mr. Nick on their sixteenth birthday. Valentina is now almost to the doomed age and Doctor Parnassus makes a new bet with Mr. Nick, whoever seduces five souls in the Imaginarium will have Valentina as a prize. Meanwhile the troupe rescues Tony, a young man that was hanged on a bridge by the Russians. Tony was chased until he finds and joins the group. Tony and Valentina fall in love with each other and the jealous Anton discovers that his ...

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Plot Keywords:

immortality | imaginary world | deal with the devil | lead actor's last film | imagination | 

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Taglines:

The man who tried to cheat the devil.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

In April 2017, Jude Law was cast in Fantastic Beasts 2 as Albus Dumbledore. Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp were in the first movie as Percival Graves and Gellert Grindlewald respectively. All three actors played Tony Shepherd's alternate faces when he goes into the Imaginarium World.

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Goofs

When Tony (played by Colin Farrell) and Valentina are in the Gondola, it appears that there is a shadow of someone walking behind the green screen in the upper right corner, between when they are talking about how perfect it is and that they have to make a choice. However, upon further inspection, this is really an out of focus frond/leaf on a foreground tree.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Anton: Ladies and Gentlemen, step up. Step up! I am Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, and invite you, invite you, sir, for one night, one night only, here at this venue to enter the mind, the very great mind, huh, of Doctor Parnassus. Dr. Parnassus!

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Crazy Credits

The credits begin with "A Film from Heath Ledger & Friends", which is tribute to Ledger who passed away during filming, and a nod to his real life friends (Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law), who stepped in to finish his uncompleted scenes.

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Connections

References Mary Poppins (1964)

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Soundtracks

Swany Whistle
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven (as Ludwig Van Beethoven)
Performed by Graham Sutton

User Reviews

Heads Up! Heads Up!

What a blast! What a cast! Christopher Plummer, Lily Cole, Johnny Depp, Andrew Garfield, Jude Law, Verne Troyer, Colin Farrell and Tom Waits. I don't quite know how to describe this other than to say it's masterfully-produced-21st-century-Monty Python-surreal-bizarre-trippy-digitized-cinema with an absolutely colorfully-entertaining and imaginative storyline. How in the name of Ni did I miss this up until now!? Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is sophisticated, thoughtful, entertaining, totally brilliant and light years distant from the original simplistic Circus humor.

If you are becoming board with superheros, apocalypse survival, Star Wars, Star Treks,and 2.0 versions of movies made 40 years ago then clear the fuzz out of your head and buy a ticket for the Parnassus Road Show. You won't be disappointed!

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics [United States]

Country:

UK France Canada

Language:

English Russian French

Release Date:

8 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Filming Locations:

City of London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$415,233, 27 December 2009

Gross USA:

$7,689,607

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$61,808,775

Company Credits

Production Co:

Infinity Features Entertainment, Poo Poo Pictures, Parnassus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1