MOVIE REVIEW: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This film was always going to be notorious, but for reasons other than its quality. On 22 January 2008, Heath Ledger passed away from a suspected accidental overdose, a tragedy that rocked the film world to its foundations. Anyone who saw his awe-inspiring portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight will know one of the great talents of modern cinema went unfulfilled, but what remains to be seen is his final work - surreal fantasy The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The Imaginarium the title refers to is a travelling circus of sorts, where patrons are invited to go through a magic mirror and, through the powers of the mysterious Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), enter a world created by their imagination. What they don’t know is each visitor is subject to a battle between Parnassus and the Devil (Tom Waits), and if the latter takes the most souls he wins the former's daughter Valentina (Lily Cole). In steps amnesiac Tony (Ledger), a charismatic stranger who joins the troupe and works out a way to attract customers to the Imaginarium. But can Tony be trusted? Does he truly remember nothing or is he hiding something?

Typically for director Terry Gilliam, the movie is just the right side of insane. The difference between this and his other films is that this is Gilliam unleashed. As macabre as it sounds, the interest generated by Ledger’s death means he has far more money to play with, and with this uninhibited approach the piece is at times quite beautiful. The plot is unusual but you can quite easily keep up, and whilst it unravels at the end it is vastly entertaining.

Ledger died having filmed all his exterior scenes, so whilst this is an unfinished work it is by no means patched together. Ledger is indeed the star of the film and delivers an engaging performance. Perhaps it’s more fascinating knowing it is his last, similar to Tupac Shakur in ‘Gridlock’d’, but despite some accent changing it is a great lead performance. Plummer is great as ever, and there’s surprisingly strong performances from the younger members of the cast, Cole and Andrew Garfield (playing good guy Anton), which is all the more amazing considering the talented company they were in. Waits relishes his role as ‘the dark one’, and is as fun as he is cool. Finally, the three actors brought in to finish Ledger’s scenes - Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law - are all a delight, and there scenes are quite short so it doesn’t take away from what Ledger did.

It’s not a perfect film, but genuinely entertaining ride through the psyche of this maverick director. Visually beautiful, and with strong performances from all concerned, it won’t be for everyone, but a fitting tribute to a great actor who always chose the performance over the stardom.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is out October 16.

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