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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows the leader of a travelling theatre troupe who, having made a deal with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations. Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, and Heath Ledger star in the film, though Ledger's death one-third of the way through filming caused production to be temporarily suspended.[3] Ledger's role was recast with Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell portraying transformations of Ledger's character Tony as he travels through a dream world. The film's world premiere was during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, out of competition.[4] The UK release of the film was scheduled for 6 June 2009 but pushed back to 16 October 2009 due to its successful premiere at Cannes.
[edit] PlotIn the present day, immortal thousand-year-old Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) leads a travelling theatre troupe—including a sleight of hand expert, Anton (Andrew Garfield), and a dwarf, Percy (Verne Troyer)—that offers audience members a chance to go beyond reality through a magical mirror in his possession.[5] Parnassus had been able to guide the imagination of others through a deal with the Devil (Tom Waits), who now comes to collect on the arrangement,[6] targeting the doctor's daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole). The troupe, which is joined by a mysterious outsider named Tony (portrayed by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell),[7] embark through parallel worlds to rescue the girl.[8] [edit] Cast
[edit] Production[edit] Writing Director Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Charles McKeown wrote the script for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,[9] their first collaboration since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).[5] When he was approached with the basic concept by Gilliam, McKeown thought of the central character of Parnassus "as a semi-eastern medicine man evolved"[14], and in retrospect he further said about the script's sensibilities, "[i]t is about the theme of imagination, and the importance of imagination, to how you live and how you think and so on. And that's very much a Terry theme. [...] I like the idea of storytelling being the thing that sustains the universe."[14] Gilliam described the premise as a "fun and humorous story about the consequences of our personal choices in life",[6] and explained his goal for the film: "It's autobiographical. I'm trying to bring a bit of fantasticality to London, an antidote to modern lives. I loved this idea of an ancient travelling show offering the kind of storytelling and wonder that we used to get, to people who are just into shoot-em-up action films."[5] Gilliam and McKeown based the character of Tony on former British prime minister Tony Blair, who "would say the most insane things and probably he'd believe them himself".[10] Gilliam repeatedly said in interviews that the character of Parnassus was meant autobiographically, a tale of an aging man with a vivid imagination in a world that doesn't listen anymore.[15] Still being caught in depression over the disruption of his last self-written project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, his constant struggle with the established studio system, as well as becoming aware of his progressing age, worried that he was going nowhere with his latest projects and that he might not have much time left, Gilliam put a number of references to sudden, tragic, and premature death into his script before the loss of Ledger became a reality. In fact, Gilliam felt compelled to emphasize time and again that upon the film's release many things might be mistaken as references to Ledger's fate but that the script wasn't changed apart from re-casting Ledger with Depp, Farrell, and Law.[16][17] [edit] ProductionThe film received a budget of $30 million, considered unusually high for an independent production.[5] Production began in December 2007 in London,[9] at landmarks such as Battersea Power Station, Tower Bridge, and St. Paul's Cathedral.[5] Production for the remaining CGI effects shots were planned to be done in Vancouver.[9] [edit] Effect of Ledger's deathProduction was disrupted by the death of Heath Ledger in New York City on 22 January 2008. Ledger's involvement had been a "key factor" in the film's financing.[8] Gilliam was presiding over concept art when he received the phone call that told Ledger had died; his initial thought was "The film's over, it's as simple as that."[10] Although production was suspended indefinitely by January 24,[18] according to Christopher Plummer, who plays Doctor Parnassus, Gilliam, determined to "salvage" the film, initially considered using computer-generated imagery to make Heath Ledger's character magically change his appearance, perhaps into another character, in order to keep his final work in the film, and, if the film was made, would dedicate it to Ledger.[19] The imagery would be similar to transformation techniques seen on Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and those employed to Roy Scheider in his posthumous release Iron Cross. Eventually, actors Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law were cast to replace Heath Ledger in certain scenes, portraying the new idea of transformed versions of Ledger's character travelling through magical realms, thus the footage shot with Ledger would remain in the film as his character's "real-world" appearance. With the role recast, filming resumed in Vancouver in March 2008.[20] Depp was a friend of Gilliam who starred in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the aborted The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, and had been compared to Ledger by cinematographer Nicola Pecorini. Law was a friend of Ledger and had been considered for the role of Tony, and Farrell had also been friends with Ledger.[10] Depp, Farrell, and Law opted to redirect their wages for the role to Ledger's young daughter, Matilda, who had been left out of an old version of Ledger's will,[21] and Gilliam altered the part of the credits saying "A Terry Gilliam film" to "A film from Heath Ledger and friends."[10] The production was beset by further bad luck when producer William Vince died one week after shooting was done[16], and while on post-production Gilliam himself was hit by a car and broke his back. Gilliam recalled: "So I thought, it was third time lucky - they just didn't get me. They got the star, the producer and they were going for the director and the fuckers failed on the last one. Whoever they are..."[16] "They were going for the trinity [...] That would have been a tidy end to the whole thing. But they didn't kill me. I'm stuck here to tell the tale."[15] [edit] Post-ProductionGilliam finished editing the film by November 2008, and then work began on creating 647 effects shots.[10] According to the official ParnassusFilm Twitter channel[22][23] launched on March 30, 2009, post-production was finished on March 31. After the production had finally come to a successful closure, Gilliam felt that "[I] didn't make this film. Forces from above and below made it. It made itself. I don't worry anymore. It's got its own relentless momentum. It just needed some human sacrifice."[15] "It's made itself - I was just one pair of hands and there were many hands."[16] "Don't get me into my mystical mode ... but the film made itself and it was co-directed by Heath Ledger!"[24] "The irony is that the choices that were forced upon us improved the movie, so it was as if Heath co-directed the movie, even co-wrote it."[25] According to Gilliam, actor Colin Farrell also went on record for saying that he hadn't been simply playing the character of Tony, but that he was rather feeling like "channeling Heath".[26] Gilliam also positively recalled people's commitment to Ledger's memory: "Everyone in the cast and everyone in the crew was determined that this film would be finished and everybody worked longer, harder and somehow we got through. It was really ... people's love for Heath that propelled this thing forward."[27] "All the actors already in the film had to change their schedules, and there wasn't a moment's hesitation. [...] They all said, 'We'll do what's necessary.' It's really a love letter to Heath by everybody involved. He was beloved by so many."[15] [edit] ReceptionAs of November 9, 2009, Rotten Tomatoes reports that 65% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 60 reviews, with an 5.8/10 review average.[28] According to Reuters, the film debuted at #3 on its first weekend at the UK box office.[29] The film debuted at #2 in both France[30] and Italy, generating the year's third-best box office return on an opening weekend in Italy. Said Roberto Proia, distribution chief of the film's Italian distributor Moviemax, about its surprisingly warm reception, "Almost two years after his death, Ledger has a huge fanbase which, along with the rest of the stellar cast, certainly contributed hugely. [...] We also found out that teenagers massively love Gilliam, and we did not expect this. He really has rock star status."[31] By November 1, two weeks after its release to the public, it had earned slightly above $12 million in the UK, Ireland, Italy, and Spain alone according to Box Office Mojo.[32] [edit] Awards and nominationsThe Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus has been nominated for Best Achievement In Production at the British Independent Film Awards.[33] It has been further nominated for 4 International Press Academy Satellite Awards, in the categories Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction & Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Song.[34] [edit] References
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