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Directed by Terry Gilliam
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The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus Terry
Gilliam always seemed to me to be the least talented of the Monty Python
troupe. In case you don’t
remember, he’s the one who did the animations for them. He’s also
the only one who went on to direct his own features, most of which have
turned out to be films in which his reach far exceeded his grasp, giving him
the appearance of having lots of imagination but little talent for achieving
a work of art. His
latest film is “The Imaginarium of Dr.
Parnassus,” now known primarily because it was the film that Heath
Ledger was working on when he died in 2008. In the great tradition of the movies,
a number of stars took over his part so that Gilliam could finish the
film. Johnny Depp,
Jude Law and Colin Farrell all rushed in to see Gilliam’s dream come true
and the film finished. Was it
worth it? I have to say no,
because the film ends up a hodge-podge of scenes, some of which work but most
don’t, so whatever overarching artistic vision Gilliam had had is lost
once again in an incoherent melange of fantastic
scenes. A
troupe of actors in a wagon pulled by horses moves
through London, stopping to play scenes and collect money from uninterested
bystanders. The patriarch of the
troupe is Christopher Plummer, widowed years ago but with a fifteen-year-old daughter. It turns out that very long ago he
made a pact with the Devil (Tom Waits) to be granted eternal life in exchange
for his daughter’s soul when she turned 16 (now three days away, and of
course he doesn’t want to go through with it). One evening the troupe picks up a man
hanged from a bridge across the Thames (Heath Ledger) who has better ideas
for how to make money for the troupe.
He installs a mirror, and when people go through it they find a happy
landscape in which they can stay forever if they like. (Ledger had done only the transitional
scenes; the ones behind the mirror are done by Depp,
Law and Farrell). There
are moments as always where Gilliam makes breathtaking images,
particularly on the other side of the mirror, but once again he’s
stuffed the film too full of irrelevant ideas and bizarre moments that just
bring the film to a full stop; by the time he gets things going again
he’s just lost the point of it all. |