My latest post is a film review for The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus...
FILM ONLY REVIEW
Dr Parnassus owns a travelling theatre company which he works on with daughter Valentina, a midget and Anton. He claims to be able to take people to their dream place using his mind. He also claims to be over 1000 years old and immortal. The devil cursed him so he can never die. However when he met and fell in love with a mortal woman he made another deal with the devil so he could be young again and woe this woman. As a result of the deal the first born child he has when they reach the age of 16 will belong to the devil.
Valentina is now nearing the age of 16 and Dr Parnassus tries to explain to her what will happen but he never gets to finish his story. He manages to make a new deal with the devil, the first one of them to give the devil 5 souls will win the bet and if Parnassus wins he can keep his daughter. Things are not going too well though and the too add to the trouble they find a man hanging under a bridge and after saving him he has no memory and joins the theatre group on their travels.
Can Dr Parnassus win the bet and keep his daughter and just who is the mysterious man they saved?
I have been wanting to see this film for some time now as the trailers made it look really interesting and their was an excellent cast list as well. I think this film was so known as it was the one which Heath Ledger was filming when he died and as a result I really wanted to see it. I did enjoy the film but at times I found I had no idea what was actually happening and I found it took me quite some time to actually work out the story and what it was all about. Once I had worked it all out I did managed to start enjoying it but overall I did think it was a little odd. The story was good and I think if it had be explained in a more simple way and with less eccentric behaviour it would have been more easy to follow an maybe it would have become suitable for a younger audience too.
I found the acting from all involved was excellent. The role of Parnassus was played by Christopher Plummer and I felt he did a very good job. He looked and came across as a gypsy type of person who was never able to settle. He looked to have had a troubled past and I felt I never got to know the true Parnassus as he held a lot back. He did a great job in convincing me of his character and I was able to warm to him and get a good understanding of his emotions and feelings. I felt he handled the whole magical element of the film very well and he also had a very good on screen bond with the other actors. The role which stood out by far in this film was that of Tony, played by Heath Ledger, he was a complex man and I felt he came across is a very good way at the start of the film. We knew little about him and I did actually like this element of mystery in the role. He delivered all of his lines well and he did bring a little bit of fun to the film with a few good one liners. He looked great and was very easy on the eye too! The midget Percy, played by Verne Troyer was also a great addition to the cast.
We did have some very good support role including appearances from Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell and I felt they added a lot to the film with their different takes on the same character and the w2ay they handled things. I think I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Johnny Depp though as he was able to bring a lot more of the mythical and magical element with those amazing eyes of his. Other good strong actors included, Lily Cole and Andrew Garfield.
The film was set in the present day travelling around London, I enjoyed seeing the different parts of London and not just the main areas of the city, we had some very dark and dreary places and I think this added a lot to the story. I loved the contrast between the modern day and the old fashioned theatre and the way they lived. They looked and had the appearance of gypsies and I think without this the film may not have worked as well. There were some good parts of the theatre and I found it all looked good.
The film is packed full of special effects and these are mainly when we enter the Imaginarium, I found they were all of a very high standard and looked amazing. I loved how colourful everything would become when we were here and felt it was a lovely escape from the drab city of London. The actors all worked well with the effects and helped to make them look very real. I felt the way they took ideas for people imaginations was excellent and I enjoyed watching all of the experiences. We also had a very good and mixed soundtrack to the film and I felt it all worked well, the contrast of songs was good as it helped show how different the places were.
This is a film only review so there are no bonus features to speak about. The running time of the film is 123 minutes and personally I found this to be a little on the long side, I don’t think anything would really have been lost from the film if it had been shortened slightly, maybe 90-100 minutes would have been a better length. The rate for the film is a 12A and I do strongly agree with this, there is a lot of odd parts to the film and some of the scenes are a little weird to watch. I also feel a younger audience would not be able to follow the story at all as I found this a challenge at the start of the film. The DVD can be bought for around £7 now which I feel to be slightly over priced.
I would love to be able to give this film a higher rate but as it is I can only go for 3 stars. I found the story to be a little odd and hard to follow at times, we do have some excellent actors and effects in the film. I would recommend watching if you can catch it on the TV but it is not really worth paying out on the DVD for. It is currently being shown on Sky Movies and Anytime TV.
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