After having walked out half way through Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus a few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit and watch the film from start to finish with lowered, or at least more realistic expectations.
This is the story of Dr Parnassus who is constantly in game of give and take with the devil. Its a battle for souls that kind of mirrors the battle for God and the Devil. Parnassus travels around putting on shows overing enlightenment to anyone who'll take it, but it rarely amounts to very much. As the film opens time is running short, Parnassus' daughter is to turn 16 which means that she'll be handed over to the devil however into the mix comes the amnesiac Tony, who they find hanging from a rope under a bridge in London. As Tony tries to find his past and the Doctor drinks himself into oblivion the Devil has yet another wager up his sleeve.
A brilliant cast (including the stand ins for Heath Ledger) try to do what they can with a script that kind of rambles all over the place constantly reinventing itself like the never ending wagers that Tom Wait's devil keeps coming up with. I'm certain that this made some sort of sense on the page, or at the very least in Gilliam's mind but what has come out on screen is kind of like an uncontrolled brain explosion. Its like Terry Gilliam was thinking about all of these things and when suddenly they just sort of popped out before they could adequately be put together. I'm told that the film is very close to Gilliam and reflects things important to him, if that is the case, and I suspect it is, I think Gilliam should be told not to share next time. I really had no idea what he was getting at.
Don't get me wrong it has some great bits. The imagery is, as with all Gilliam films, stunning. Some of what we see in the Imaginarium is amazing. Most of the bits, as bits, are wonderful but as a whole they don't work. There are simply too many plot holes and too often Gilliam stacks the deck in what ever way he wants things to play out or adds things that make little sense even in a nonsensical way (say the signing police number). If you want an example of Gilliam forcing issues think about the scene at the fair early on. Think about how the family, and everyone else ignores them. I mean everyone ignores them to such a large degree that its intentional. Its much too fake.They are behaving like a monstrous movie family not like a real family. Worst of all is the fact Gilliam can't even keep his characters consistent, one need only loom at the Parnassus character to see that. He is so all over the place as to never seem to fully formed. He drunk, he's not. he fights, he gives up. Give him 30 seconds and he'll change.
I stopped caring about half way into the film.
When I originally discussed this film with friends I said that I felt nothing and that I was bored, something I had never felt in a Gilliam film. In someway I think that was true and in some way I think I was wrong. I think the boredom and lack of feeling was a reaction to what I feel is the scatter-shot nature of the script. How can I feel anything when there is no way to know what is really going on since the film doesn't seem to have a clear idea either. I know when it was done I was of the opinion that you probably could even argue that the whole story was a story.
Its a mess.
No I did not like it. Honestly between this film and Peter Jackson's Lovely Bones I've had to come up with a new movie list, namely major disappointments.
This is the story of Dr Parnassus who is constantly in game of give and take with the devil. Its a battle for souls that kind of mirrors the battle for God and the Devil. Parnassus travels around putting on shows overing enlightenment to anyone who'll take it, but it rarely amounts to very much. As the film opens time is running short, Parnassus' daughter is to turn 16 which means that she'll be handed over to the devil however into the mix comes the amnesiac Tony, who they find hanging from a rope under a bridge in London. As Tony tries to find his past and the Doctor drinks himself into oblivion the Devil has yet another wager up his sleeve.
A brilliant cast (including the stand ins for Heath Ledger) try to do what they can with a script that kind of rambles all over the place constantly reinventing itself like the never ending wagers that Tom Wait's devil keeps coming up with. I'm certain that this made some sort of sense on the page, or at the very least in Gilliam's mind but what has come out on screen is kind of like an uncontrolled brain explosion. Its like Terry Gilliam was thinking about all of these things and when suddenly they just sort of popped out before they could adequately be put together. I'm told that the film is very close to Gilliam and reflects things important to him, if that is the case, and I suspect it is, I think Gilliam should be told not to share next time. I really had no idea what he was getting at.
Don't get me wrong it has some great bits. The imagery is, as with all Gilliam films, stunning. Some of what we see in the Imaginarium is amazing. Most of the bits, as bits, are wonderful but as a whole they don't work. There are simply too many plot holes and too often Gilliam stacks the deck in what ever way he wants things to play out or adds things that make little sense even in a nonsensical way (say the signing police number). If you want an example of Gilliam forcing issues think about the scene at the fair early on. Think about how the family, and everyone else ignores them. I mean everyone ignores them to such a large degree that its intentional. Its much too fake.They are behaving like a monstrous movie family not like a real family. Worst of all is the fact Gilliam can't even keep his characters consistent, one need only loom at the Parnassus character to see that. He is so all over the place as to never seem to fully formed. He drunk, he's not. he fights, he gives up. Give him 30 seconds and he'll change.
I stopped caring about half way into the film.
When I originally discussed this film with friends I said that I felt nothing and that I was bored, something I had never felt in a Gilliam film. In someway I think that was true and in some way I think I was wrong. I think the boredom and lack of feeling was a reaction to what I feel is the scatter-shot nature of the script. How can I feel anything when there is no way to know what is really going on since the film doesn't seem to have a clear idea either. I know when it was done I was of the opinion that you probably could even argue that the whole story was a story.
Its a mess.
No I did not like it. Honestly between this film and Peter Jackson's Lovely Bones I've had to come up with a new movie list, namely major disappointments.