Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 12/25/2010 (Limited) 01/08/2010 (Moderate) Home Video 04/27/2010 MPAA Rating Rated PG-13 for violent images, some sensuality, language and smoking Running Time 122 Minutes Genre Sci-Fi, Drama Director Terry Gilliam Writer Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown Cast Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law Studio Sony Classics/Davis Film |
THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS (2009)
SYNOPSIS
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical
morality tale, set in the present-day. It tells the story of
Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a
travelling 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, Doctor Parnassus is cursed
with a dark secret. An inveterate gambler, thousands
of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in
which he won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting
his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal
with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on
condition that when his daughter reached her 16th
birthday, 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!
. --© Sony Classic
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical
morality tale, set in the present-day. It tells the story of
Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a
travelling 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, Doctor Parnassus is cursed
with a dark secret. An inveterate gambler, thousands
of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in
which he won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting
his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal
with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on
condition that when his daughter reached her 16th
birthday, 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!
. --© Sony Classic
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
Director/Writer Terry Gilliam’s (Twelve Monkeys, Monty Python and the Holy Grail) new film The
Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is about a traveling sideshow that offers their audience the chance to enter
a magic mirror which, allows him/her to enter their own imagination. At first, the modern day morality
feature is intriguing but, it shortly loses its appeal. The CGI effects in The Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus are remarkable, not to mention, the noteworthy rewrite of the script using Johnny Depp, Jude
Law and Colin Farrel to represent Tony’s (Heath Ledger) many faces. Most directors probably would have
junked the movie if one of their lead actors passed away during filming (Ledger died of a prescription drug
overdose before finishing the film). Even though the rewrite is outstanding and the CGI is astounding, the
film itself is far from amazing. The storyline is weak and boring and the “fantastical” aspects are not
fantastic enough.
Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is about a traveling sideshow that offers their audience the chance to enter
a magic mirror which, allows him/her to enter their own imagination. At first, the modern day morality
feature is intriguing but, it shortly loses its appeal. The CGI effects in The Imaginarium of Doctor
Parnassus are remarkable, not to mention, the noteworthy rewrite of the script using Johnny Depp, Jude
Law and Colin Farrel to represent Tony’s (Heath Ledger) many faces. Most directors probably would have
junked the movie if one of their lead actors passed away during filming (Ledger died of a prescription drug
overdose before finishing the film). Even though the rewrite is outstanding and the CGI is astounding, the
film itself is far from amazing. The storyline is weak and boring and the “fantastical” aspects are not
fantastic enough.
By David Ladd