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Rating: Who knows how this film would have turned out if, in the middle of shooting, the leading actor Heath Ledger had not died mid-production? The annals of cinema encyclopedias are filled with stories of death and films, but a case like that of "Parnassus – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" is unprecedented.
Terry Gilliam began shooting his fourteenth film right after "Tideland" from 2005. A noir fairy tale that the visionary director of "Brazil" had been contemplating for a while. But on February 15, 2008, Ledger dies. The film seems to come to a halt. A solution involving computer graphics is proposed. A "The Crow" solution for Brandon Lee or "Gladiator" for Oliver Reed.
But then, three friends of the deceased actor step in: Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who offer to shoot the missing parts. Thus, the character of Antonhy Shepard becomes a rare case of a collective character, and naturally, this alters the body of the film.
The plot essentially remains as announced: the company of the quirky Doctor Parnassus, a seer who can take spectators on a journey inside his mind, saves Tony from hanging (suspended under the Blackfriars Bridge in London like "any Calvi").
The strange character, who has lost his memory, joins the company, turning their fortune around. Parnassus's daughter, Valentina, falls in love with him (a stunning Lily Cole who literally blossoms as the film unfolds). However, Valentina is promised to the devil, an incredible and sulfurous (it's cliché to say but true) Tom Waits, and Tony will prove to be a false benefactor. A psychedelic finale between journeys inside Parnassus's head and plot twists.
Two sharp hours of color and great imaginative scenic inventions, with a touch of sensuality and an alluring aura of death. It’s not a masterpiece, and certainly not the best film by the former Monty Python, but in the dry spell of multiplex cinema, it is one of the few oases in the desert before the cyclone of holiday blockbusters descends upon us.
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