“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” is about as creative as the title suggests, a fable in which the imagination is not merely an escape from reality; it’s the very fabric of existence, and as such, how we choose to exist ultimately determines whether or not we’re slated for salvation. Director Terry Gilliam considers this an autobiographical film, which I guess is right since it’s about a wizened storyteller hindered by a world in which story has been reduced to cheap thrills. Gilliam has a following, no question, but the God’s honest truth is that most audiences these days would rather have their brains deadened with assaultive spectacles like “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” or “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.” And studios are happy to produce them because they make money. Does no one want to be told a story anymore?
 
What makes “Imaginarium” so refreshing is not so much that it’s a cornucopia of visual delights, even though it is, but that the visuals are utilized in a reliable Faustian plot with engaging characters. At the head of the team is Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), the 1,000-year-old head of an old-time theater troupe travelling across London. Along with his teenage daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), his illusionist, Anton (Andrew Garfield), and his feisty dwarf sidekick, Percy (Verne Troyer), Parnassus offers audiences a chance to step through a special mirror and watch as their imaginations are vividly brought to life. Is there a catch? Let’s just say that Parnassus and the Devil – here named Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), an oily trickster who’s never seen without a bowler hat and a cigarette holder clamped between his teeth – made a deal a long, long ago, and it’s now time to pay up.
 
Before long, the troupe stumbles upon a man named Tony (the late Heath Ledger), who they save from dying a horrible death under a bridge. He awakens the next morning claiming to have no memory of who he is or what he had been doing, although we quickly suspect he knows a lot more than he lets on. While not particularly liked by anyone except Valentina, Tony uses both modern aesthetic sensibilities and his own mysterious charm to attract audiences to the Imaginarium, bringing in money and food for the rest of the troupe. It’s all well and good, but the question remains: Who is this man? We have no real idea where he came from, and we certainly don’t know where he’s going. All we do know is that, for most of the film, he seems to be hiding from something. Or someone.

Isn’t it strange, how a negative can be turned into a positive? Ledger had finished only one-third of “Imaginarium” before his death in January of 2008, leaving Gilliam with the monumental task of finding some way to complete the film. The solution: Cast Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to play physically transformed versions of Tony, who appear only after he steps through the mirror and into the land of imagination. For an idea that had the potential to go spectacularly wrong, it ended up being one of the film’s greatest strengths. This is not only because of Depp, Law, and Farrell, who are great talents and capable of delivering a Ledger-like performance, but also because it’s an excellent display of creativity on Gilliam’s part. He truly is like Doctor Parnassus, sustaining his own universe by constantly telling stories.
 
The visuals are an experience unto themselves, as they tend to be in a Terry Gilliam film. Every scene taking place in the realm of imagination is a beautifully realized dreamscape, where fantasy freely shifts back and forth between childish and whimsical to foreign and frightening. Shimmering waters cast perfect reflections. Cartoonish balloons float through the air. Landscapes rise and fall dramatically, with a towering cliff on one end and a flat desert on the other. These scenes alone would have made a strong case for releasing the film in 3-D; watching them is like wandering into a surrealist painting, with textures and patterns so strange and vivid that they practically beg for you to reach out and touch them.
 
Some, I suspect, will be more taken with the visuals than with the plot, which, I admit, does take some time to sort through. Others may only want the opportunity to see Heath Ledger one last time, and never mind the fact that his costars were just as memorable. What I personally got from “Imaginarium” above all else was the sense that I was actually being told something. Are there moments of conjecture, confusion, chaos, and absurdity? Yes to all of the above. But even at its most cerebral, there’s always the sense that it’s working its way towards a goal, that it wants to be something greater than an astounding visual feast (this definitely doesn’t include homage to his Monty Python days – a chorus line of policemen wearing skirts and hosiery). After a summer of repetitive action and nonstop special effects, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” comes along and reminds us that imagination is, in fact, a good thing.

- Chris Pandolfi

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