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 ...

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

The man who tried to cheat the devil.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Mystery

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site 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:

Battersea Power Station, Battersea, 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Percy's line, spoken by Verne Troyer, "You know, short fellow, a bit taller than I am, short legs, short foot, big head, runs kind of funny," was not in the script, and as Terry Gilliam explains in his DVD-commentary, "Only Verne could get away with saying that and ad-libbing that. And that was important to doing whatever we can to cut through the 'p.c.-ness' of language these days. Say the words!"

---

Goofs

When Anton is playing with Tony's pipe, there is a rough cut where the camera shakes significantly. This choice in editing is most likely due to Ledger's sudden death during production, and not having an alternate take to use.

---

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!

---

Crazy Credits

After the credits, Tony's mobile ring tone can clearly be heard

---

Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: The Lovely Bones/The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus/The White Ribbon (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Say It with Music
Written by Irving Berlin
Performed by Chris Garrick, Martin Robertson, Phil Todd, Jamie Talbot,
Derek Watkins, John Barclay, Neil Sidwell, Owen Slade, Dave Hartley, John Parricelli, Ian Thomas
Licensed courtesy of: Irving Berlin Music Company

User Reviews

Film's Existence is Admirable

It is impossible to write about this entry into Terry Gilliam's oeuvre without acknowledging the tragic death of Heath Ledger. Cast as the film's inciting character, Heath Ledger's untimely death spawned and air of sadness that blankets the film, especially considering the tragic nature of his character.

Of course, as they say, the show must go on, so "The Imaginarium" did as well. in an outpouring of cinematic industry kinship, Johnny Depp ("Fear and Loathing"), Colin Farrell ("In Bruges"), Jude Law ("A.I.") stepped in to play Heath Ledger's character, Tony's, alter ego when he is in the mirror world. What this film would have looked like had Ledger not departed can never be known. How much film had to be scrapped, how many scenes were restructured, what funding fell through as a result, I do not know.

For these reasons, the film, in all of its imperfection, seems to get a pass from me, as I find myself wondering how a film production would recover from such a blow. The only even somewhat similar circumstances I can think of off the top of my head is Brandon Lee's death during the filming of "The Crow," and the massive reshoot efforts undertaken to remove Kevin Spacey from the film "All the Money in the World," coincidentally played by Christopher Plummer ("The New World") who co starred with Ledger ("A Knight's Tale") in "Imaginarium."

So those are my caveats for a film plagued by problems. I watch this film with a wave of sad forgiveness and dream of its original intentions.