The first trailer for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is now online:
youtube.com/watch?v=X_WdPtaPza0
The film marks the last film performance of Academy Award-winner Heath Ledger (who was a third of the way through filming his role before his untimely death; the role was recast with Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law). It is directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam (Time Bandits, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Brothers Grimm, Tideland), and stars Christopher Plummer (most well known for his role opposite Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, and the voice of Charles Muntz in Up) in the title role of Doctor Parnassus.
The film is about a traveling theatre troupe run by a man whose made a deal with the Devil. Ledger plays a mysterious outsider who joins the group. The plot is as follows: In the present day, immortal 1,000-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a traveling theatre troupe—including a sleight of hand expert, Anton (Andrew Garfield), and a dwarf, Percy (Verne Troyer)—that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession. Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits), who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor’s daughter (Lily Cole). The troupe, which is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (portrayed by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell), embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.
Depp was a friend of Gilliam who starred in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the aborted The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, which has now been put back into production, and had been compared to Ledger by cinematographer Nicola Pecorini. Law was a friend of Ledger and had been considered for the role of Tony, and Farrell had also been friends with Ledger. Depp, Farrell, and Law opted to redirect their wages for the role to Ledger’s young daughter, Matilda, who had been left out of an old version of Ledger’s will.
The film has screened for the first time at the Cannes Film Festival, and the filmmakers aren’t shying away from calling out the importance of the project.
Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, screening out of competition at the fest, even ended with an onscreen dedication: “A film from Heath Ledger and friends.”
Ledger, who died in January 2008, plays a snake-oil salesman type who is found hanging from a London bridge by two members of a traveling theater troupe. The group introduces Ledger to a magic portal that allows him to travel to different fantastical worlds that exist within people’s imaginations.
“There was irony throughout this film and there was even more irony post Heath’s death,” Gilliam told reporters. “I hope he would be pleased with it. I think he would be.”
Film critics may be another story…
While it was always going to be an uphill battle for the film to make an impression as anything other than Ledger’s final outing, reviews are starting to trickle in for the carnival-set film, and while they praise the late actor’s solid performance, they don’t seem to be too overencouraged by the rest.
“The three stars that came to Gilliam’s rescue also make amusing contributions, but it’s hard not to wonder how much better the film would have been with a complete performance by the charismatic and adventurous Ledger,” opines the Hollywood Reporter.
With Ledger dying prior to the film’s completion, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell stepped in to see through the role, playing versions of Ledger’s character as he makes his way through three portal worlds. The titular doctor, played by Christopher Plummer, is a fellow traveling showman who made a pact with the Devil.
The Reporter predicts a middling commercial reception, finding the film is neither “intelligent enough nor silly or grotesque enough to become a lasting favorite.”
London’s Guardian, meanwhile, was apparently unable to get past the missing star, writing, “the whole thing is rather sad.”
“I don’t think Terry Gilliam’s film was intended as a tragedy, but that’s how it plays.”
Variety, however, gave it a more promising review, saying Gilliam “has made a pretty good thing out of a very bad situation.”
And while the trade called the film “overly hectic,” it does see success on the horizon.
“With Ledger onscreen more than might have been expected, the film possesses strong curiosity value bolstered by generally lively action and excellent visual effects, making for good commercial prospects in most markets.”
Gilliam initially had shut down the production after Ledger’s death, but he continued on in tribute to the star.
“The choice I made was to close the film down,” the director told reporters at the fest. “I couldn’t see how we could finish it without Heath because we were in the middle of production.”
And the filmmaker says it’s Ledger’s performance that makes the film.
“Heath was enjoying himself so much and he was ad-libbing a lot, which I don’t normally allow,” he said. “He got everybody else going. Everybody was just energized by Heath. He was extraordinary. He was almost exhausting because he had so much energy.
“What I thought was interesting was to watch people filling the void that Heath left. Everybody was just growing to make sure that there was no void left in the space that Heath had left us.”
Ledger’s family, meanwhile, has yet to see the film, but Gilliam has high hopes for their approval.
“What was important for me was just to make a film with Heath’s last performance up there alive and well, and I think they’re going to be delighted by it.”
The film does not yet have a U.S. release date, but is scheduled to open in European theaters this fall.
). This looks surreal and ‘trippy’, so I’m sure it’ll appeal to people with such preferences. Me, I’m kinda intrigued to have a look at it, but knowing my tastes (I was not much impressed by the 
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