"I'm sooo going to see that!": 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'

Did any of you know that it was in theatres already?! I knew it was coming out soon, but somehow I totally spaced on the release date. And that's kind of surprising since I'm almost as excited about this flick as I am about 'Alice in Wonderland'! Almost.

I've always liked Terry Gilliam's directing. In fact, his movie 'The Adventures of Baron Munchausen' is one of my Top 5 favorites! And who didn't like 'Time Bandits'? Or what about 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'? That one was a trip, for sure! '12 Monkeys' was pretty good, as well. But somehow or another, I never did manage to see his 1985 classic 'Brazil'. I guess I should add that one to my Netflix queue, huh?






I'm not real sure what the Doctor's doing here...
It looks as though he's meditating and
floating in mid-air (see above), but that may
only be what he wants us to think.






This is odd... Looks like Heath is taking a trip
through some gigantic lady's underwater wardrobe,
hopping to and fro amongst high heel
shoes, pearls and perfume...




I love how bizarre and surreal Gilliam's movies usually are. I just eat all of that up! If I were making movies, I know I'd want to make 'em like Gilliam and Burton do. Not that I have anywhere near the amount of talent those two genius's have! I just meant that I would want to make the same kind of fantastical cinematic features. But if I did prove myself good enough to be considered in their same league, well then...

Oh, sorry about that! I was daydreaming, a bit.

Anywaaay, Gilliam's latest film, 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus', both looks and sounds like it just might be his best one yet! Here's the official synopsis from Terry Gilliam's fanzine, Dreams:

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' is a morality tale set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr. Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, upon meeting his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr. Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this "coming of age" milestone and Dr. Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr. Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr. Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr. Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles. And undo the mistakes of his past once and for all...

Sounds a bit complicated, huh? But I have a feeling it's the good kind of "complicated" that makes for a great story. Also, the kind that warrants multiple viewings, if one so desires to try and fully comprehend said "complicated story". That's one of the reasons owning a movie on DVD is so nice!






Get a load of that mirror! Looks like a secret
passage or a gateway to another
dimension, perhaps...






Something tells me Jude Law found one of
those other dimensions... But just where
is that ladder leading to?






And here she is, the lovely Valentina.
She is quite pretty, but is she worth all of the
chaos and grief?






Looks as though Johnny Depp has now fallen
into the same gigantic lady's underwater
wardrobe as Heath did... and found a lady?!




As I'm sure you know, Heath Ledger died before all of the filming was done for his part. And the way Gilliam resolved that little "issue" was to bring in a few other well-known actors to portray Heath's character at different points in the story. Enter Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell. I'd be interested to know how different the original story was before parts of it had to be totally re-written, just so they could "make it work". No matter what, it seems as though the end result was worth all of the extra work it took to get there. I don't know about you, but I'm checking show times at my local cineplex A.S.A.P., so I can go see for myself!


In the meantime, if you'd like to watch the movie trailer, be my guest...





~All movie photos via Google Images~