The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — trailer
Since when are Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law (L-R, above) interchangeable? Since October 16, when Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus will be unleashed in theatres. The quartet take turns portraying Tony, who was loosely based on former British prime minister Tony Blair, who, says Gilliam, “would say the most insane things and probably he’d believe them himself”. Doctor Parnassus also stars Tom Waits and Verne “Mini Me” Troyer and upcomer Lily Cole, who is also slated to be Alice in Marilyn Manson’s Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll next year.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus follows a traveling troupe who can grant its audience their wildest fantasies or gloomiest nightmares, harnessing the crowd’s imagination. But the troupe leader’s (Plummer) real life is not all fun and games. A thousand years prior, Doctor Parnassus made a pact with the Devil/Mr. Nick (Waits), trading immortality for his first born on his/her 16th birthday. When Mr. Nick arrives to claim Parnassus’ daughter Valentina (Cole), the Doctor swiftly barters a wager: the first to seduce five souls wins Valentina. This is when Parnassus enlists a young aid named Tony, who will win Valentina’s hand in marriage if he helps the good Doctor win the wager.
With clever CG trickery and a handy paranormal mirror, Tony takes on three transformations into some of the hottest guys in Hollywood, all of whom I have no doubts of their ability to woo while being a little goofy.
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus might just be one of the best things I’ve done,” quips Gilliam. “It feels like the kind of films I made when I was younger like Munchausen, Time Bandits; it’s full of magic and wonder… the stuff of dreams. It’s a film that’s humorous, it’s tragic, it’s beautiful, it’s romantic; it’s all of those elements because that’s what imagination is about.”
Stylistically, Doctor Parnassus seems a bit Rampo Noir (above right, with oft-dubbed “Japan’s Johnny Depp” Tadanobu Asano), Labryrinth, Beetlejuice, and, of course Gilliam’s own Baron von Munchausen.
Thank you Terry Gilliam, for keeping it surreal.
