AFI FEST - THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS (review)

In the present day, immortal thousand-year-old Doctor Parnassus leads a travelling theatre troupe—including a sleight of hand expert, Anton, and a dwarf, Percy —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, who now comes to collect on the arrangement, targeting the doctor's daughter, Valentina. The troupe, which is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony, embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.

Directed by Terry Gilliam
Written by Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown
Starring Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne
Troyer, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield and Tom Waits
with Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law

Gilliam succeeds in giving his audience a film full of his distinctive imagery and quirkiness that is, at its core, a touching fable about a father and daughter. Some may feel it runs long, but I found the eye candy and performances, especially Christopher Plummer's, wonderful to savor. The casting of Depp, Law and Farrell in the role of "Tony" to compensate for Heath Ledger's death works remarkably well, though it is impossible to ignore the bittersweet emotion lying beneath this creative decision of circumstance. Already released in the U.K., Australia and Spain, at one point the outlook for a U.S. distributor appeared grim. Parnassus found a distributor in Sony Pictures Classics and will be rolling out in limited release on Christmas. Thank God.