To sum this film up in one term, i would have to say; "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is a very BIZARRE film. No surprises there as it is written and Directed by Monty Python's own crazy genius, Terry Gilliam.
The film is dark yet funny at the same time. The story is fairly simple and the special effects, though not exactly mind blowing are feeling decent as well. The imaginarium scenes are very dream-like and I think if terry Gilliam accomplished anything from this film - it is surely the perfect bizarre atmosphere and feelings of dreams or in other cases, nightmares.
Most of the cast is great including the late, great Heath Ledger (though not his best role) as the main character of Tony. The other versions of Tony most notably Depp, were sufficient (though not brilliant) in their own portrayals of the imaginarium versions of Heath Ledger's character. Same can't be said however for Colin Farrell's portrayal as to put it as nicely as i can, was just out of place! He doesn't look anything like the other Tony's and he seemed like a completely different character which is a shame as he is the last version of Tony to appear in the film and made me feel quite detached from the original character. Not sure if this was Terry's intention but then again - the whole film changed drastically after the unfortunate demise of Heath Ledger.
The rest of the cast were also very good especially Verne Troyer as the fiesty Percy and Christopher Plummer as the title character, Doctor Parnassus.
But the real star of the show who completely owned every scene he was in, has to be Tom Waits as The devil. He was so un-believable evil without coming across as menacing or scary. He was more of a trickster. More mischievous and delivered all of his dialogue superbly with just the right amount of humour and sincerity needed to pull off a Devilish portrayal that seemed so natural, almost as if he actually IS the Devil!
Perfect casting!!!
All up, an entertainingly strange film that works better if you have an imagination!
The film is dark yet funny at the same time. The story is fairly simple and the special effects, though not exactly mind blowing are feeling decent as well. The imaginarium scenes are very dream-like and I think if terry Gilliam accomplished anything from this film - it is surely the perfect bizarre atmosphere and feelings of dreams or in other cases, nightmares.
Most of the cast is great including the late, great Heath Ledger (though not his best role) as the main character of Tony. The other versions of Tony most notably Depp, were sufficient (though not brilliant) in their own portrayals of the imaginarium versions of Heath Ledger's character. Same can't be said however for Colin Farrell's portrayal as to put it as nicely as i can, was just out of place! He doesn't look anything like the other Tony's and he seemed like a completely different character which is a shame as he is the last version of Tony to appear in the film and made me feel quite detached from the original character. Not sure if this was Terry's intention but then again - the whole film changed drastically after the unfortunate demise of Heath Ledger.
The rest of the cast were also very good especially Verne Troyer as the fiesty Percy and Christopher Plummer as the title character, Doctor Parnassus.
But the real star of the show who completely owned every scene he was in, has to be Tom Waits as The devil. He was so un-believable evil without coming across as menacing or scary. He was more of a trickster. More mischievous and delivered all of his dialogue superbly with just the right amount of humour and sincerity needed to pull off a Devilish portrayal that seemed so natural, almost as if he actually IS the Devil!
Perfect casting!!!
All up, an entertainingly strange film that works better if you have an imagination!