I’ll admit it right now, although it will become clear as you read the review, I’m a Gilliam fan. Time Bandits was my first love, and through the epic Orwellian nightmare of Brazil to the future imperfect of Twelve Monkeys every new journey I take with Gilliam is a pleasure to behold. When he spoke at the BFI late last year Gilliam spoke enthusiastically about the then-unreleased Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and his passion and playfulness were tangible, and every frame of the film, now out on DVD, is testament to the man’s imagination and capability.

You’ll know the tragedy which lies at the heart of Parnassus and it is difficult to attempt to let Heath Ledger disappear into his character in the film, though it is an inexhaustible performance of dislocation and delirium and as he finds himself attached to the mysterious travelling sideshow of the titular Doctor and his company of players it is both his past, and that of the good Doctor himself which Gilliam threads together in the narrative.

The grimy, lewd London streets are populated with the crude and boisterous and the archaic travelling show trundles through the various locations (including a B&Q very close to where I live) with a slow, uncertain destination and it allows the characters to launch to the fore as the initial confusion gives way to an active and absorbing mystery, coloured by some truly sublime flights of fancy once we are through the stage mirror. The trailers gave a good indication of what to expect from Gilliam’s fantastic visions on the other side, and it is the mixture of a partly seductive, partly terrifying alternate world which gives the film its visual flavour.

Andrew Garfield (recently seen with his head in a computer box in Spike Jonze’s outstanding short I’m Here) is truly mesmerising in his role as one of the Parnassus players, and this gives me great hope for his forthcoming turns in Never Let Me Go and the Fincher/Sorkin Facebook film The Social Network. His work here is riddled with pathos and frenzied confusion, never out of place and acting as a sole anchor of sanity in this strange bubble of madness which is travelling around London. Lily Cole is perfect as the wide-eyed daughter of Parnassus, Valentina, and hopefully will become one a member of Gilliam’s regulars and avoiding the more obvious St. Trinians fare. She and Christopher Plummer as the mercurial Doctor have a number of excellent scenes together and act as the heart of the film.

Ledger’s Tony is a wonderful creation of Gilliam and co-writer Charles McKeown and while I would be loved the opportunity to see Ledger complete his role and play Tony while in the Imaginarium itself Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law give decent performances, gracefully respectful to Ledger and the rest of the cast and complete what is a stunning cast at top form. Special mention must also go to Tom Waits as the enigmatic and garrulous Mr. Nick, giving a performance of pitch perfect phantasmagoria – the film is worth watching for him alone.

Gilliam’s imagination is brought to life with the help of some outlandish CGI which only occasionally threaten to overwhelm your senses, yet everything in the real world is broken and beautiful and given real weight by a fine script and wonderful performances. It is not an easy film, and by that I mean it will engage you morally and emotionally and is all the more rich for it. Few directors are willing to challenge you and with Parnassus it is as if Gilliam has grabbed you by the arm and is running breathlessly through his imagination with eagerness and excitement, and while it may be a struggle to keep up , the journey is most definitely worth taking.

The DVD extras are listed below, and while there is an inevitable focus on Ledger there are some wonderful featurettes on Gilliam himself, which are worth buying this DVD for alone.

• Feature Introduction by Terry Gilliam
• Heath Ledger & Friends
• Heath Ledger Interview
• Heath Ledger Wardrobe Test with optional commentary by Terry Gilliam
• Director’s Commentary
• Deleted Scene with optional commentary by Terry Gilliam
• The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam
• Building the Monastery
• Behind the Mirror
• UK Premiere Featurette

Our friends over at /Film have revealed the US poster for Terry Gilliam’s latest flight of fantastical fancy The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and it is a marked improvement on the UK’s Harry Potter-esque ad.

We’ve featured other one sheets from other countries recently, notably the beautiful Korean one and the starkly radiant Japanese version, and I love the different visions the marketing companies are using to embody Gilliam’s beautifully imagined world.

Click on the image to the left to see the full version, Parnassus opens in the US on Christmas Day – give yourself the best present you’ll get this year and get down to your local cinema.

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2009/11/09/new-us-imaginarium-of-dr-parnassus-poster-revealed/feed/ 2 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2009/11/06/korean-imaginarium-of-doctor-parnassus-poster/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2009/11/06/korean-imaginarium-of-doctor-parnassus-poster/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:22 +0000 David Sztypuljak http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=3695

They keep on churning these posters out but every single one is completely different from the last and they all look great! Thanks to LiveforFilms, here’s the latest poster (click to enlarge) for The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and this time it’s the Korean one.

Parnassus stars Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and is directed by Terry Gilliam.

I wouldn’t normally post new posters for a movie that’s already come out but then I had to remind myself that The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus doesn’t come out in the US until Christmas day! Seems crazy we get it so much earlier but then again, it’s usually the other way round.

This poster is the Japanese poster and it looks excellent. Usually they seem to rehash images from previously released images but as far as I’m aware this one is brand new and shows Heath Ledger kneeling in front of the magic mirror – Click it to enlarge.

The movie also stars Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Verne Troyer and Christopher Plummer.

Source: LiveforFilms

This week, finally, sees the release of Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The titular Parnassus sold his daughter’s soul to the devil, and now she is reaching 16, the devil is due to collect. Parnassus hopes a stranger, Tony, holds the key to saving her.

Gilliam’s productions have a tendency towards misfortune, and The Imaginarium was no exception. The tragic death of Heath Ledger, of course, overshadows trivialities like film production and distribution problems, and i’m sure Gilliam’s thoughts were with the family of his friend, and not his movie. A question mark did, however, hang over the future of the project. Eventually, Heath’s friends stepped in and the show went on.

That wasn’t that though, as Gilliam struggled to obtain a distribution deal, with companies reluctant to gamble on an independent fantasy movie in the current economy. For some film-makers, this might have put them off for life. But Gilliam has a wealth of experience with strife.

It all started off quite well, and the Python movies were reasonably simple, within the usual parameters of any production. Even Time Bandits went pretty smoothly by all accounts. It wasn’t really until the end of Brazil, namely post-production, that Gilliam’s troubles really started.

Universal, who were distributing the film in the US, felt that the downbeat ending wasn’t being well received by test audiences. There was extensive re-editing to give a happier conclusion, which greatly angered Gilliam. Following a long period of time with no release in sight, Gilliam fought back. Using his own money, he bought a full page advertisement in Variety magazine demanding Brazil be released with his own original cut. When that didn’t work, Gilliam had private screenings of his version, unsanctioned by Universal. After Brazil was named ’best picture’ by the LA Film Critic Association, a compromise was reached, and Gilliam re-cut the film for release.

Things went from bad to worse with The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which was somewhat of a fiasco from start to finish. The producer, Thomas Schuhly, felt the movie could be made in Italy at a fraction of the budget of a UK production. But when the crew arrived, it became obvious the producer was completely dis-organised and under-prepared. Amid an escalating budget, the insurance company took over, and set a date for the end of production. The company wanted Gilliam replaced, but distributor Columbia insisted Gilliam be allowed to continue.

Compromises had to be made over several sequences to reduce costs, but shooting was finally completed. Due to Gilliams previous problems with Brazil, and the presence of a new CEO at Columbia, Munchausen had a limited run in the US at a handful of theatres. From a final budget of reportedly $46 million, twice the initial $24 million agreed by Columbia, it took just $8 million in the US. The Munchausen saga earnt Gilliam a Hollywood black mark.

Twelve Monkeys didn’t fare too badly in comparison. Burnt by his Munchausen experience, Gilliam was adamant not to go over budget. Without the budget for sound stages, production staff had to find abandoned buildings to use. There were technical problems with many of the futuristic props, as they were built from scavenged materials. Disaster almost struck when Gilliam chose to go horse riding during production and had a near-fatal accident. He was then brow-beaten into filming two endings for the film, neither of which were his original vision for the final shot. The studio wanted to test both an ending that tied the story up a bit at the end, and one that left it all open. During the post-production, the time-travel element made editing a bit of a headache, with continuity management a real difficulty.

Some of Gilliam’s problems have been productions that didn’t happen. He has twice tried to put together a project to adapt the Watchmen graphic novel, but it didn’t work out – author Alan Moore even told him it was unfilmable. Gilliam also had plans for a sequel to Time Bandits, but as several of the original actors had died that didn’t work out either.

Probably the biggest disaster was Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Production did actually begin, but as soon as they started filming, a flood subsequently destroyed much of the set. Located near a military base, the engine noise of jets flying overhead rendered most of the audio recording unusable. Lead actor Jean Rochefort then suffered a herniated disc. Having spent seven months learning English and preparing for the role, Rochefort was literally irreplaceable. The whole production was cancelled, resulting in a $15 million insurance claim.

Gilliam is now gearing up to retry Don Quixote again, and has recently announced he has found his lead actor. With Parnassus now reaching theatres, maybe things are starting to look up again for Gilliam.

Is Terry Gilliam cursed? No. Instead, he is a visionary film maker. This means that he will always clash with major studios, as he will always be following his artistic vision, as the executives instead focus on their bottom line. Whilst the studios want to make movies for the masses, Gilliam wants to make art that appeals to himself. And as his unique ideas lend themselves best to exotic filming locations, Gilliam’s projects will always be at the mercy of the harsh and problematic environments. It’s the nature of the beast, and to be honest, i don’t think Terry Gilliam would want it any other way.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus opens this Friday 15th October here in the UK. It goes on limited release on 25th December in the US.

Bazmann

Sony Pictures Classics has released eight great new posters for Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. I’ve embedded them below which you can click to enlarge.

These go along nicely with the new trailer that was released for the movie a couple of days ago. Parnassus stars Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law.

We’ve waited a long time for this and it’s finally out next Friday, 16th October.

As the days count down until we have our chance to catch up with HUG favourite Terry Gilliam,  we have a US trailer released. It is very similar to the UK trailer posted a while back but any excuse to see this remarkable world Gilliam will be leading us through.

October the 16th is the release date here in the UK, and the trailer, which offers only the barest hints as to the psychadelicious Imaginarium and its inhabitants, is a wonderful piece of work and its available apres la jump.

For Gilliam fans there’s an excellent in-depth interview with the man himself over at Vice – if you’re a fan of his it’s well worth your time. Check it out here.

Check out the trailer below or head over to Yahoo for the HD version.