The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus (Reviewed by Sebastian Ng)

I went to watch this film with friends, and I was worried they would be totally disappointed. You see, laypersons (which my friends unequivocally are) would have wanted to see the film because "it's a movie with the hot/cute actors Heath Ledger ('so sad ...'), Johnny Depp ('he's so hawt!'), Jude Law ('he's in this?!') and Colin Farrell ('oooh.')." Oh yes, you can tell I went with girls.

Well, to us film aficionados, going to see The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (which for some reason a lot of Malaysians couldn't pronounce, or so I heard) is to see a film by Terry Gilliam -- he of Monty Python fame, whose previous films include the classic dystopian movie Brazil, the twisted Twelve Monkeys, and the messy affair that was The Brothers Grimm. And the thing to expect in all Terry's films is a demented and manic sense of style, paired with a mischievous glint in the eye, like a movie on ADD. This applies not just to the editing, but to the production and costume design, the way characters behave -- well, everything really.

In short, things don't make a whole lot of sense in a Terry Gilliam movie. But they sure do look fantastical and very creative, very imaginative.

I was forewarned by this knowledge, and other friends who've seen The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus who said I should avoid it. Thanks to those expectations, I did kind of enjoy the movie. (My friends? They complained of headaches and confusion.) Some complained that the film didn't make sense. Which is kind of true, but then there is a plot running through the film, and it's not exactly hard to determine what that is. What doesn't make sense are the individual scenes, or a particular something a character does -- or maybe things don't seem to connect or contradicts something from an earlier scene. Whatever. The way to enjoy the film is to know going in that you're in for a mad ride, and to accept what the images show (very colourful and trippy), and not try to think so hard. (You can, but you won't necessarily get much out of it.)

The casting was perfect in the film, from Christopher Plummer as the titular protagonist, to Tom Waits playing a deceptively benign Devil. Also worth noting is young British actor Andrew Garfield, whose career I've been following since Lions For Lambs and Boy A. Heath Ledger's death made it necessary for Gilliam to alter the story and invite "his friends Depp, Law and Farrell" to take over the role at certain points of the film, which turned out to be interestingly successful, as the transitions were very seamless. (As in, if you look at them as characters rather than actors, all four did a good job performing as one.)

Director Terry Gilliam Cast Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole Runtime 122 mins Opens 1 Jan

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Sebastian Ng studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood, majoring in Directing and Sound Design but spent most of his time watching movies, and attending film festivals and meet-the-filmmaker sessions. Having returned to Malaysia in 2008, he currently works as a digital production coordinator for Rhythm & Hues Studios (Malaysia). He continues to fuel his passion for film by writing reviews and other ramblings for his blog,Cinematic Concerns.

Check out Sebastian's coverage of the PIFF2009 in KLue's December issue!