Christopher Plummer in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: or is it Mike Myers?

Cast: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole
Director: Terry Gilliam
Screenwriters: Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown

Described as a morality tale, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus melds elements of the fantastical into present-day London with an almost cheeky wink to the audience and a glint in its eye.

The film tells the tale of the mysterious and immortal Doctor Parnassus (Plummer) and his travelling show the “Imaginarium�, which allows for members of the audience to enter their own imagination and be faced with a choice of light and dark. A weak gambling man, Parnassus owes his immortality to the venerable Mr Nick (Tom Waits on devilishly good form), with whom he gambles with the souls of his audience inside the Imaginarium. Unfortunately for Parnassus his most recent deal involves Mr Nick’s ownership of his daughter Valentina (Cole) on her rapidly approaching 16^th birthday. Aided by his loyal sidekick Percy (Troyer), the enthusiastic young Anton (Garfield) and the amnesiac Tony (Ledger) the race is on to beat the Devil and seduce the first five souls and save Valentina.

Being a film by Terry Gilliam even the present day scenes of London are fantastical in nature. Beautifully shot and with a real air of whimsy it’s fairy tale sensibilities are worn like a badge of honour. Its closest cousins being The Fisher King and Time Bandits, the serious with the silly. This is mostly silly stuff and I for one am thankful of that.  With some gleeful slapstick and yes, Pythonesque humour, the dancing policemen segment being a prime example, I left with a warm, cosy glow instead of the potential air of tragedy I had anticipated upon witnessing the final performance of the hugely missed Heath Ledger.

Fear not though as Ledger leaves an indelible print on this film, all charm and ambiguity, it’s a fitting tribute to his talents that you are less mindful of his passing than you thought you would be. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell all assume the role of Tony at different stages in the film (stages Heath hadn’t finished filming before his death) and the transition is seamless. It’s difficult to believe that the screenplay was not originally written this way.

Each actor brings his own style to Tony but keeps him curiously Ledgers creation. Depp’s scene in particular delights and is pure Gilliam.  Taking a trip into the imagination of a well-to-do middle-aged woman Depp, surrounded by giant ladies shoes the likes of which would give Carrie Bradshaw an attack of the vapours, gamely fends off her advances in a sequence involving a gondola, the devil and a love motel.  Looking almost alarmingly like Ledger he matches him for charm and with a raise of the eyebrow says more than pages of script could ever do.  Gilliam’s surrealist nature is prevalent in these scenes inside the Imaginarium. Dali-esque but mostly resembling Tim Burton’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, it’s a world that is both appealing and frightening.

Parnassus himself would be hard to like were it not for Plummer clearly having fun in the role. From rambling drunk to wise old sage his best scenes are with Verne Troyer, the double act believable, funny and sweet. Andrew Garfield continues to impress throughout the film. Along with the likes of Ben Whishaw, Jim Sturgess and Ben Barnes the future looks exceedingly bright for the young Brit. Resembling a picture from a fairy tale storybook the model Lily Cole gives an unpretentious and natural performance as Valentina only tripping up in the more emotional scenes. The film is almost hijacked from Ledger by a frankly delicious Tom Waits, his Mr Nick weaving in out of the tale with a tip of the hat and puff of his cigar you find yourself awaiting his return with great anticipation. But this is Ledger’s film and he strongly deserves to claim it as his own.

Beautiful to look at despite its obviously limited effects budget, this is a real return to form for Gilliam and fans should be thrilled to enter the Imaginarium.

The Imaginarium is released in cinemas on 16th October via Lionsgate

By Christa Ktorides