The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy |
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a travelling theatre troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations and present them with a choice between self-fulfilling enlightenment or gratifying ignorance.
The film stars Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, though Ledger’s death one-third of the way through filming caused production to be temporarily suspended. Ledger’s role was recast with Depp, Law, and Farrell portraying transformations of Ledger’s character as he travels through a dream world; the film marks Ledger’s final film performance, and was dedicated to him and co-producer William Vince.
Outside a London pub, an elderly bearded sage named Doctor Parnassus runs a nearly-bankrupt traveling theatre troupe, which includes his teenaged daughter Valentina, a sleight-of-hand expert and barker Anton, and a dwarf assistant Percy. The troupe’s main attraction is a portal to a magical “Imaginarium”, a surreal dream world that transforms according to its participants’ own desires and offers them a choice between difficult self-fulfillment or easy ignorance. After a drunkard is swayed to the latter, Parnassus says he has lost “another one” to Mr. Nick, a suave personification of the Devil, who often appears without warning to taunt Parnassus and gloat over Parnassus’s failures. He reminds Parnassus that in three days Valentina turns 16, and her soul will belong to Mr. Nick. Hundreds of years ago, Mr. Nick tricked Parnassus into accepting immortality, after making a wager similar to his current predicament.
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Terry Gilliam, Charles McKeown
Stars: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law
►Cast:
| Andrew Garfield | … | Anton |
| Christopher Plummer | … | Doctor Parnassus |
| Richard Riddell | … | Martin |
| Katie Lyons | … | Martin’s Girlfriend |
| Richard Shanks | … | Friend of Martin |
| Lily Cole | … | Valentina |
| Verne Troyer | … | Percy |
| Bruce Crawford | … | Face Changed Martin |
| Johnny Harris | … | Policeman |
| Lorraine Cheshire | … | Mum |
| Mark Benton | … | Dad |
| Lewis Gott | … | Diego |
| Sian Scott | … | Linda |
| Simon Day | … | Uncle Bob (as Simon Daye) |
| Moya Brady | … | Aunty Flo |
| Charles McKeown | … | Fairground’s Inspector |
| Tom Waits | … | Mr Nick |
| Mackenzie Gray | … | First Monk |
| Yurij Kis | … | Second Monk |
| Ian A. Wallace | … | Third Monk (as Ian Wallace) |
| Heath Ledger | … | Tony |
| Amanda Walker | … | Shopper |
| Joann Condon | … | Shopper |
| Carolyn Pickles | … | Shopper |
| Paloma Faith | … | Sally |
| Montserrat Lombard | … | Sally’s Friend |
| Craig Fraser | … | Debonair Gent |
| Amy Marston | … | Classy Shopper 1 |
| Gwendoline Christie | … | Classy Shopper 2 |
| Lucy Russell | … | Classy Shopper 3 |
| Maggie Steed | … | LV Woman |
| Ben Cartwright | … | Policeman 1 |
| Gavin Rolph | … | Policeman 2 |
| Bobby Bysouth | … | LV Woman’s Reflection |
| Johnny Depp | … | Imaginarium Tony 1 |
| Vitaly Kravchenko | … | Piotr (as Vitaliy Kravchenko) |
| Ray Cooper | … | Vladimir |
| Emil Hostina | … | Serge |
| Igor Ingelsman | … | Gregor |
| Sarah Groundwater-Law | … | Sales Girl (as Sarah Groundwater) |
| Jude Law | … | Imaginarium Tony 2 |
| Dean Moen | … | Smiling Policeman |
| Fraser Aitcheson | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Michael Bean | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Jason Griffith | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Scott A. McGillivray | … | Dancing Policeman |
| John Stewart | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Chris Cochrane | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Pearce Visser | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Patrick Bahrich | … | Dancing Policeman |
| Georgina Hegedos | … | Baboushka |
| Colin Farrell | … | Imaginarium Tony 3 |
| Cassandra Sawtell | … | Olga |
| Carrie Genzel | … | Female Journalist |
| Mark Oliver | … | Male Journalist |
| Peter Stormare | … | The President (as Peter Stomare) |
| Donna Lysell | … | President’s Wife |
| Michael Eklund | … | Tony’s Assistant |
| Charles Singh | … | Security Guard (as Raahul Singh) |
| Ryan Grantham | … | Little Anton |
| D. Harlan Cutshall | … | Charity Guest 1 (as D Harlan Cutshall) |
| Deni DeLory | … | Charity Guest 2 (as Deni Delory) |
| Lisa Bunting | … | Charity Guest 3 |
| Peter New | … | Paramedic 1 |
| Michael Jonsson | … | Paramedic 2 |
| Emma Karwandy | … | Valentina’s Daughter |
| Quinn Lord | … | Young Boy |
| Bart Anderson | … | Young Boy’s Father |
| Erika Conway | … | Young Boy’s Mother |
| Wendy Carson | … | Nun 1 |
| Christine McMahon | … | Nun 2 |
| Charlie Carter | … | Shopper |
| Waléra Kanischtscheff | … | (uncredited) |
| Daniel Newman | … | Gavin |
| Antonia Putiloff | … | Olga (voice) |
| Genevieve Sibayan | … | Drunken Youth |
| David Smallbone | … | Sally’s Friend #1 |
| Daniel Tyler-Smith | … | Drunk Imaginarium Spectator |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia
