The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present-day. It tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary ‘Imaginarium’, a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom.

Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Doctor Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. An inveterate gambler, thousands of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in which he won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his daughter reached her 16th birthday, she would become the property of Mr Nick.

Valentina is now rapidly approaching this ‘coming of age’ milestone and Dr. Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr. Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr. Parnassus promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to the man that helps him win.

In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr. Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles – and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all!

I had the opportunity of seeing Dr. Parnassus this week, and I was a bit hesitant going into it. For one, I knew it was a fantasy film (which can be really hokey) and second, I knew it was Heath Ledger’s final film, and that was incredibly sad.  Writer/director Terry Gilliam has made some very strange movies in his day, some of them I love (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Twelve Monkeys) some of them, not so much (I’m not a Monty Python fan, and I hated Brazil).  So I would say I was a skeptic going into this movie.

To be honest the only reason I was dying to see it was because of Heath Ledger. And the first time we see Heath in the movie, he is hanging from a noose.  That was disturbing for me, considering he died during the filming of this movie.  I found myself really mourning the fact that he’s dead throughout the movie. Why? Because Heath Ledger really was an amazing actor. In Dr. Parnassus – it was evident that he really was a phenomenal actor, who’s talent surpassed any of his peers.  It’s such a tragedy that he’s no longer with us, because he was a genius. His final performance in Dr. Parnassus reflects this. He was brilliant.

He was able to film majority of the film, until he passed – and his role was turned over to his good friends  Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.  Which in my opinion didn’t really disrupt the film at all (as I had thought going into it). Johnny, Jude and Colin each had a 5 minute (at most) scene in the film – which occurs only when Heath’s character steps into Dr. Parnassus’ “imaginarium”.

It’s a confusing movie – but the payoff is worth it. It is a strange movie, but after I left the theater, I started to put it all together, and it made sense. It was really a very beautiful, moving movie.  If you’re a fan of Terry Gilliam you will absolutely ADORE this movie. If you’re a fan of Heath Ledger, you need to see this, his final film. I will say this movie will not be loved by all, but I loved it. It was a great piece of art, a wonderful step into Terry Gilliam’s strange world. I loved seeing Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell join the movie, even if briefly. (I could have used a whole lot more of Johnny Depp! He was absolutely GENIUS as always!)

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus comes out on Christmas Day. Go see it!

Please take a minute to check out all the beautiful pictures behind the cut. I have over 20 stills from the movie. Take a minute – check them out. I’ve got more pictures of Heath, Johnny, Jude and Collin. Come with me!