Step into the Imaginarium

It was not long ago that I was saying I just don't care much for Terry Gilliam movies. And yet, somehow, I found myself going to see his latest anyway. There was an element of curiosity that won out there; some might call it morbid, but it won all the same.

The film is The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and the element that pushed me to the theater is that this is the last film made by Heath Ledger before his death. This is what he was filming at the time, and there was still a bit of work yet to be done. To deal with the loss of the film's star, the writers (Charles McKeown or Terry Gilliam, or both) concocted an interesting solution: the remaining scenes involving Ledger would use not one, but three actors to fill in.

But first, a brief explanation of the plot, so you might see how this would be possible. Mind you, the film isn't entirely coherent (as you should expect from Terry Gilliam; but I'll come back to this), but in a nutshell, a traveling performer who is ancient well beyond his appearance has entered into a bet with the Devil. Whoever can capture/redeem five souls first wins. The performer, the titular Doctor Parnassus, has not only a small team working with him, but has the aid of a magic mirror to use in cleansing souls; people who pass through it enter a magical dreamscape inside his imagination, but sculpted in large measure by the one to step inside.

Without giving away any more particulars, you can probably guess how Ledger's role could be completed without him. As it happened, the shooting schedule of the movie placed all the "real world" sequences first, with the more elaborate, visual effects driven material of the dream worlds to be filmed later. Heath Ledger completed the former, and not the latter. Since it was all a matter of "imagination" anyway, Ledger's character was thus played in different sequences of the film by Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell.

Let me say that the film is a real triumph in the acting department. Heath Ledger gives another great performance, and the three men brought in to finish his work are all excellent. In mannerisms, appearance, and behavior, each of the three really makes you believe in the continuity of the character. You could easily imagine that the movie could have worked this way all along; there is plenty that is bizarre and jarring in the film -- that's Gilliam at work -- but this actor switch-a-roo isn't one such thing.

Visually, the film is a feast. The dreamscapes are all breathtaking, each with very different images and tones. Even the "real world" material is heightened and specific; it's a major achievement for every department from set design to costume design, makeup to cinematography. It looks fantastic.

But it remains a Terry Gilliam film, full of all the flaws I felt in works like Time Bandits and The Brothers Grimm. The story doesn't make much sense. Characters have shifting levels of knowledge, things sometimes happen for no logical reason grown from character (but of a need to progress the story), events don't always flow naturally from A to B, narrative conceits work in some contexts and fail in others, and so on. It's kind of a mess.

A very beautiful mess with some fine acting, but a mess nonetheless.

And yet not unenjoyable.

In fact, overall, I'd rate The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus a B-. But I think my love of how movies get made, of behind the scenes interest, is perhaps artificially inflating that opinion. I can't wait to see DVD features that will hopefully shed even more light on how the pieces of this film were shifted to account for the loss of its star, how the production team made the striking visuals come to life, and more.

Though I probably still won't plan on seeing any more Terry Gilliam movies any time soon.