The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Photos from Terry Gilliam's new film

Terry Gilliam is one of those true visionary people who only come along once in a blue moon. Even if you don't like the story he is telling your eyes still love the journey he takes you on. I do love a bit of Gilliam and I am really looking forward to his latest film.

DVD Forum debuted these four images and they are excellent.

It was Heath Ledger’s final film, and after his death Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell joined the production to complete the picture by filling in for Ledger, playing his character in a series of fantasy sequences.

Above is Christopher Plummer as the titular Dr Parnassus. Below is Lily Cole as his daughter Valentina.


Terry Gilliam chats with Plummer above and below is Heath Ledger as Tony.

Yet what is the film all about? Harry Knowles over on AICN has seen it and here is his description of the first 15 minutes.

The film opens in modern day London as a horse drawn turn of the last century amusement called THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS is being pulled through the streets. There are homeless littering the sidewalks. The Imaginarium pulls up outside of a tavern called MEDUSA. Drunken British assholes pouring out. When the Imaginarium begins to unfold… its flashing lights and painted banners unfurling… a figure takes the stage, looking like a turn of the century Mercury, this is Andrew Garfield playing Anton, a lovesick grown up Puck, serving as the Imagnarium’s Barker. Enticing the drunken street rats to watch this Victorian attraction.

But these are drunkards, intoxicated into a stupor of self-amusement. Hurling bottles, screaming unintelligible BS. Meanwhile, the Imaginarium is showing us more.

There seems to be a comatose bearded man with some marks on his face sitting in a lotus position on a clear Plexiglas thing with a pillow atop – to give a not so convincing version of a levitated stoop. Then the strangest 2 legged smoke shooting creature that reminded me briefly of Jeremy Hilary Boob, Ph.D. When it stands erect and turns around – we realize it is Verne Troyer, who later we’re introduced to as Percy, Dr Parnassus’ anchor to reality… kinda. The last member of the Imaginarium we’re introduced to is the utterly stunningly beautiful Valentina (UK’s stunning fiery redheaded Lily Cole) - she is Parnassus’ daughter.

The Imaginarium performance was lacking. It wasn’t connecting to the drunken rats. Things begin to get out of hand when a real bold ass of a drunk, who looks like a grown version of Francie Brady from THE BUTCHER BOY, but isn’t. He marches on the stage, throwing Anton and Percy off the stage. Parnassus is still in a trance, and the drunk starts chasing Valentina around – threatening to rape her. Back stage of the Imaginarium is dark and scary. Cut out trees. Then they go through this split mylar mirror thing – and suddenly there seems to be an unnatural amount of space. An endless distance of cut out painted trees, but in a real earthen landscape. He’s chasing after Valentina, who is teasing and drawing him in further. He trips and lands face first into a mud puddle, and as he wipes the mud from his face, his face is no longer his face. He’s an idealized version of himself.

Next the Drunk ends up in an impossibly large pile of beer bottles… and he looks about – and suddenly the cut-out trees are no longer cut out, but fantastically intricate veiny trees – impossibly large. That’s when the hand-monkeys swinging on bioluminescent vines begin buzz bombing the fella. Once the hand-monkeys grab him he’s lifted up above the trees, above the Earth itself, the bioluminescent vines are actually the enormous beautiful tendrils of space-borne jellyfish shooting their way through the cosmos. Turns out the hand-monkeys are the drunk’s friend – and he is dumped at the base of an impossibly large amount of steps up the mountain of some impenetrable greatness – which to ascend would give you the culmination of your very existence itself. Fulfilling the very meaning of it all. The drunk stumbles in the vague direction of this thing, when suddenly this Bowler Hat pub forms behind him – promising one last drink before his ascent… No sooner does he enter the establishment than it explodes. And Parnassus snaps from his trance, yells at his daughter – and the cops begin searching for the missing man, who, of course, is nowhere to be found.

15 minutes in, my mind was blown!

The two-hour film apparently features amazing visuals, but the storyline is rather complex, centering on Plummer as Dr. Parnassus, a man who runs a traveling sideshow with his daughter, a young barker, and a sidekick, played by Verne Troyer. Tom Waits plays the Devil, with whom Parnassus makes a Faustian bargain, and Ledger's character joins the troupe after they find him hanging from his neck under a London bridge.

How does that grab you? Sounds like his Monty Python animations come to life.

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