(Mild spoilers, I suppose, for
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus)
The thing about being a Terry Gilliam fan or being a fan of any artist really, is that your view of each of their next pieces of work cannot help but be informed by your knowledge of their last, and all that came before.
If you are not careful, this can hamper your enjoyment as each sight is identified, labeled and filed away. For example: A recurrent character in Gilliam's films is the one who reminds the hero or heroes, who sometimes so just want to
play, that there is serious work to be done and they had better do it.
This person is not a drudge (though those are represented too) they are people who see and speak the truth; often innocent. In
Time Bandits it's Kevin, in
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen it's Sally.
In
Fisher King--although Gilliam didn't write it--this idea is turned on its head. Jack Lucas plays the anchor to the high-flying Parry, but only when he enters
Parry's world, is he able to set the both of them free.
In
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, that role is filled by Verne Troyer as the Doctor's dwarf companion.
This is doubly echoic of some of Gilliam's previous work, by having the part of the truth teller played by someone whom, at first glance, you might take for a child.
And of course, Gilliam used dwarves in
Time Bandits better than anyone has ever used them in film, with the possible exception of
The Wizard of Oz.
A clever artist, which Mr. Gilliam indubitably is, knows we see and hear echoes, and like the good Doctor Parnassus, he insists that you
breathe in his world, and
breathe in his world, if you catch the distinction.
I have heard it said--and often repeated--that a good story is not about what it is about, it is about the
way in which it is what's about. Well, this movie
is about what it's about: Imagination and a deal with the devil.
I knew while watching it that I wanted to see this movie again and again--I know, how rare for me with a Terry Gilliam film.
One of the things I want to study is Christopher Plummer's performance as the title character. I have the feeling it is the kind of performance that is
so good it almost slips by you.
He could've been operatic; it would've been easy for Plummer to turn in the kind of performance beloved by drama students everywhere. It might even have worked as well. But instead, Plummer chose to play the calm at the center point of the storm.
As is well known, this is Heath Ledger's last film. He died before filming was finished.
Johnny Depp,
Colin Farrell and
Jude Law stepped in via a device: That as Ledger's character steps into the Imaginarium, he changes his face.
This also may affect the way some view the film, but I hope it's something they can get past as both the finished film, and Ledger's unfinished work within, deserve it.
I don't know Ledger's career well enough to hazard a guess how this uncompleted performance stacks up to others, but I did notice something.
Watch him, especially (but not only) in the scenes with Christopher Plummer, and you will see an actor actually
listening to another.
There are no rules about what makes a good actor, but that's one of them.
As Valentina, the Doctor's daughter, Lily Cole is a beautiful woman with a Kewpie doll face, and Gilliam makes excellent use of her here.
I'll want to see her in another part or two before I can say whether I think she can act or just stand around looking pretty (It's her first leading role in a film after spending most of the past decade as a model).
But I will say now that she's already got Megan Fox beat in the "can move and talk at the same time" sweepstakes.
Andrew Garfield, whose name is unknown to me, plays Ledger's jealous rival for Valentina's affections. His suit is true, but he's not the hero. More about that in a moment.
Troyer here makes up for his participation in any amount of Mike Myers jackassery, and almost for his demonstration of the effects of alcohol consumption on
The Surreal Life.
As for the devil in this movie...well, he's played by Tom Waits. You need to know anything else?
As for the other three star actors, they do some really nice work; with a bit of luck, they may have a future in the business.
I'm kidding of course. Actually, the device works better than I was afraid it might, especially because the character they are all playing--Tony--desperately wants to hide who he is, even if it's not always clear if he is hiding from the others, or from himself.
So when entering a world of merged imaginations, why
wouldn't he give himself a face that best suits his purpose?
(There's also a suggestion that at least some of his pleasing shapes are supplied by the women he escorts through the mirror.)
(Supposedly, the women imagine themselves romanced by the likes of Johnny Depp & Co. A likely story.)
Still though, Tony is not the hero either.
Then who is?
Well, exactly and precisely whose Imaginarium is this, anyway?
It's Doctor Parnassus', and he is the hero. Not because his name's in the title, but because when determining a hero, I always look for the character who has been
changed the most by the events of a story.
If they're lucky, they've learned, but they've always been changed. I can't reveal the way in which Doctor Parnassus is changed by the end of this film, but I will say...it's not simple.
(Entertaining, yes, simple, no)
Parnassus is the imaginative, wise, but half-crippled (in his case by drink) man who wants only to give people a trip into their imaginations by way of his own.
But in order to keep these going, he must make deals that would best not be made, and risk the sweetest thing in his life: His daughter.
The film is, I suspect, Gilliam's most autobiographical work yet, emotionally if not literally.
What do I mean by that? Well, I couldn't help but observe that a producer of this film is one of Gilliam's own daughters, Amy.
(Her sister, Holly, appeared in
Brazil as a child--just a little Gilliam fan trivia).
I hate to play blogger psychiatrist, so let me just say...I would
imagine, the child of Terry Gilliam knows a little something about the sacrifices one must make just to keep
...going.
PS: And speaking of going, go see this movie. Have I not made this clear?
