Heath Ledger will be better remembered for The Dark Knight than this movie, despite the fact that it features his last performance (incomplete, substituted by Depp, Law and Farrell).
In fact in many ways Ledger is one of the least important elements here - the major feature to report on is that Terry Gilliam's visual imagination is still firing on all cylinders. It's a shame that the structure of the movie isn't a little better defined because there are points where it's far from clear who is doing what and why: the early part of the film, in particular, is fairly muddled. And that's a serious flaw in what, otherwise, would be a fairly special movie.
I must single out Lily Cole. Prior to this my knowledge of her was limited to pictures of her as an angular clotheshorse, a shock of red hair surrounding an unusual face of huge eyes and doll-like features set in unsmiling grimness. And how wrong I was, in almost every significant way. She is given quite a big role here, with serious acting demands placed on her, and she comes through with flying colours. Her face is animated, her smile is beautiful, her body turns out to be far from stick-like, and her performance shows range and the promise of much to come. I am completely besotted and, from the way he films her, so is Gilliam.
I was a little concerned over the age of Cole's character - it would not have affected the movie to have made her two years older so that any unsavoury paedophilia suggestions could have been avoided.
This film is not perfect, but well worth a visit nevertheless.
In fact in many ways Ledger is one of the least important elements here - the major feature to report on is that Terry Gilliam's visual imagination is still firing on all cylinders. It's a shame that the structure of the movie isn't a little better defined because there are points where it's far from clear who is doing what and why: the early part of the film, in particular, is fairly muddled. And that's a serious flaw in what, otherwise, would be a fairly special movie.
I must single out Lily Cole. Prior to this my knowledge of her was limited to pictures of her as an angular clotheshorse, a shock of red hair surrounding an unusual face of huge eyes and doll-like features set in unsmiling grimness. And how wrong I was, in almost every significant way. She is given quite a big role here, with serious acting demands placed on her, and she comes through with flying colours. Her face is animated, her smile is beautiful, her body turns out to be far from stick-like, and her performance shows range and the promise of much to come. I am completely besotted and, from the way he films her, so is Gilliam.
I was a little concerned over the age of Cole's character - it would not have affected the movie to have made her two years older so that any unsavoury paedophilia suggestions could have been avoided.
This film is not perfect, but well worth a visit nevertheless.