The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
What:
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
When:
In cinemas October 29
Watch the trailer:
Here
Win:
Thanks to Hoyts, we have 5 dbls to give away! To enter, email win@threethousand.com.au with the subject ‘The devil is big in Japan'
I wish I could report that Heath Ledger's final film contains a performance to match his mercurial Joker or gruffly tender Ennis Del Mar. It doesn't. But even an off-form Ledger is still compelling as amnesiac Tony, who's rescued from an apparent suicide by tender-hearted Valentina (Lily Cole), the daughter of itinerant entertainer Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer).
For centuries, Dr Parn has gambled with the devil (the part Tom Waits was born to play). Now Mr Nick is back to collect on a deal that makes the flame-haired Valentina his property on her 16th birthday... but always keen to spice things up, the droll, pencil-moustachioed devil suggests a race: the first to seduce five souls will win Valentina. To save his daughter, Dr Parn must enlist Tony's help.
It's vintage Terry Gilliam: a deliriously inventive allegory that aims high and falls short. I'm still uncertain what the point was, but it looks gorgeous on both sides of Dr Parn's two-way mirror. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell rise to a sad occasion as Ledger's surrogates inside the Imaginarium, but it's a credit to all involved that this conceit works... splendidly. I can't imagine it any other way.
Format: Cinema
Mood: Smarts
Keywords: Terry Gilliam, Heath Ledger
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