Yes, we’re finishing up our TIFF reviews this week. Still a few more to come, we’re behind.
If Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” saw a lukewarm reception in the U.S. — or least the studios, no one bigger than the fine Sony Pictures Classics seemed to really want it — that is not the case in Toronto, where the film, which features the last performance of the late Heath Ledger, was one of the first at TIFF this year to completely sell out; and tickets were not easy to come by, seriously. We tried to see it in France during Cannes, and finally, almost five months later, we caught up with the film, which we’ve always been very curious to see (despite what a certain faction of commenters who troll this site would tell you), and were, sadly, less than impressed.
While Gilliam’s latest is a synthesis of all his best work superficially — trashbag “Fischer King” aesthetics, “Munchausen” whimsy and creativity, plus his not-so-good films like “Brothers Grimm,” and its tendency toward slapstick comedy — the end result here is something of a haphazard mashing of elements rather than a coherent whole. Yes, this film was made under duress; a deceased star, thus a troubled production, and a rush to find new, worthy actors who were available — most significantly Johhny Depp, who they borrowed from Michael Mann for two days. And it had a small budget to deal with too, we get all that. But what most hampers ‘Parnassus,’ other than its goofy tone, are its cheap, “Candyland“-reminiscent CGI-effects, which look like something you would tolerate if only watching a kids movie. In fact, it’s not far off from the broad and wacky mood of Tim Burton’s “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.”
Set in modern day London, ‘Parnassus’ is essentially a Faustian tale about the titular sage (Christopher Plummer) who centuries ago made a deal with the devil, aka Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), in exchange for everlasting life. The price was to be his firstborn daughter (a quite good Lily Cole) once she reaches the age of 16. As that day approaches, Parnassus bemoans the predicament he’s gotten himself into, as he still hasn’t told his daughter about her tragic fate. Meanwhile, he puts on a happy, or more appropriately, booze-sozzled face for his troupe of performers, and serves as the main attraction of his magical traveling circus, the Imaginarium of the film’s title, which — as far as we can tell — is meant to entice people to enter and live out all their wildest fantasies, only to emerge afterwards as cleansed, happy people, full of vigor and a sense of youth lost somewhere along the way. (So, kinda the effect we assume Gilliam hopes his ‘Imaginarium’ will have on audiences.) Unfortunately, those who take an interest to the shoddy display tend to be amused drunks and the police officers who want to know where these chavy goons have disappeared to — that being the magical Imaginarium mirror (looking like it cost about $5 dollars of set design) which transports people into a day-glo dreamscape controlled by Parnassus’ mind. It takes the coincidental arrival of a charlatan (Ledger) being hanged under a bridge (it’s been suggested to some that seeing Ledger with a noose around his neck is disturbing, but in this context, it’s not anything to get shocked or outraged about), whose presence is predicted by Parnassus’ tarot cards, to overhaul the Imaginarium’s showmanship — add a little confident razzle dazzle, we’ll say — and who in the process, Parnassus deems as his last-ditch hope to rescue his daughter from her terrible fate.
Then, out of nowhere, the gambling-happy Devil reappears to remind the good Doctor that he has about three days to settle up on his bet and hand over his daughter. Desperately, another wager is made as a hail-mary attempt to save her life: “The first to five souls,” the Devil purrrs slyly, which Parnassus quickly realizes means enticing innocents with his own imagined dreamworlds over those that the devil uses to tempt unsuspecting victims. (It’s all pretty silly and doesn’t make much sense, especially since the devil doesn’t even really “compete” at first.)
So the game is on. Ledger’s mysterious Tony amps up the spectacle and relocates the caravan to a more crowd-friendly location, and lures civilians (mostly plump, pearl-wearing women) into the mirror. His first customer drags Tony in with her, and since it’s her imagination that takes precedence, Tony’s image is warped to look like what she wants it to (hence the first switcharoo, and Johnny Depp’s appearance).
So when Andrew Cole (who’s a great actor, but doesn’t really have the chance to flex his muscles here), the young Parnassus apprentice enamored with Lily Cole, enters the mirror with Ledger, out pops Jude Law and when Lily enters the mirror with Ledger we get Colin Farrell. Or something like that. Given that logic, we’re not sure why the drunk who enters the mirror solo at the beginning of the film has his face transformed much to his aghast astonishment (other than it sets up the fact that people’s faces change when they enter the mirror). However, reason isn’t key in the Imaginarium, and it’s certainly not a dealbreaker, but it does indicate the sort of convoluted and incoherent plotting throughout.
Many have asked which Ledger stand-in has the most screentime and that’s easily Colin Farrell, who is also the best of the Ledgers, playing his character with more malice and with less, broad, wide-angle-lens kookiness. Depp is onscreen for all of three minutes and Law maybe has about 10 (Farrell is closer to 15-20 minutes onscreen). As the story’s challenge progresses, it ascends to its typical feverish, clownish pitch and Ledger’s/Farrell’s charlatan ways are exposed. But it’s a a shame that it is not Ledger himself who is able to perform the grand finale, and the fact that the actor is not around for the comeuppance does undermine and detract from the overall narrative impact.
As noted, the special effects aren’t great to say the least, but you do at least become acclimated to the rainbow-lite look… until the climax, where the CGI-, blackhole mirror-chase sequence just becomes downright egregious.
Incomprehensible, is too harsh and unfair (though several critics from Cannes used the word to describe the film), but the half-baked, nonsensical picture, that awkwardly mixes the worst, zany tendencies of Salvador Dali with Nickelodeon aesthetics and cornball humor just isn’t very cogent or sharp. And at two hours plus, it’s also far too long to sustain the disjointed flights of fancy.
The film is not valueless and those sympathetic to Gilliam’s plight and Ledger’s death will likely give it a pass, but those who have no vested interest either way could easily become annoyed with the tiresome, fantastical conceits. In fact, the whole thing might have just worked a lot better as a kids movie.
The repartee between Plummer and Waits is amusing, but no one really shines in this thing (and poor Verne Troyer who is like a cue-card reader should never really be onscreen aside from “Austin Powers”-like gags) aside from Lily Cole and Farrell. Even Ledger relatively underwhelms, but then again, his screentime is truncated. It would have been fascinating to see him have a chance to navigate the full extent of changes his characters undergoes, but sadly, we’re stuck with what the filmmakers had to work with (and it is an admirable effort, just one that’s honestly not very successful).
Terry Gilliam hopefully has another brilliant “Brazil” masterwork in him and perhaps mounting the belated “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote” will put him on that path, but ‘Parnassus’ is a mostly lackluster effort and goofy bauble that’s a far cry from even Gilliam’s fourth or fifth best work. [C-]