The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

There is nothing against heating in the wide-ranging imagination, but the story must not be forgotten. Terry Gilliam stubbornly creates "in his own way" to the point where his regularly repeated formula for the end begins to slowly but surely irritate me against the majority of usual rules. The inventive first hour and the likable main characters against the backdrop of the right mystical plot are wasted when it starts to get entangled, change sides, and overturn archetypes. I can understand why such surprises are successful with the audience, but a great cinematic experience did not occur on my side, despite multiple acting performances by Ledger and his alter-ego or the beauty of Lily Cole. (30/04/2010)

Oh, the old fool... again, he forgets that for all the intoxicating gloss, veils and crazy shapes, the whole show sways precariously in an ocean of thought and narrative confusion. But can you be mad at him for it? You can, although The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is levels above the botched film The Brothers Grimm. It’s him again - the whimsical, wasteful, restless child and a collage maker of the impossible... However, despite the excellent acting, his last work is one of his lesser films. However, I cannot hide the fact that this quality is still damn good compared to others. (08/01/2010)

Hats off to Terry Gilliam who, despite his status as perpetual underdog, managed to deal with the death of Heath Ledger in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and cast 3 excellent actors in his place. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is actually sort of a fairy tale, serving up a visual feast on a diamond platter that I couldn't get enough of :)) Something of a Faustian theme, something of a Monty Python theme, and of course Gilliam's unmistakable signature with his incredible directorial sense – all of this is what his latest effort has so far. It has to be said that 4 stars in this case is a rating of a slightly different character – I don't want to go into greater detail about it, so I'll just say that these are simply Gilliam stars, to which I ascribe greater value than any "fives".:)) (26/01/2010)

What does it matter that the visuals are so charming and interesting when, story-wise, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is an utterly weak spectacle that, after a promising first half hour, gradually lost my sympathy until it stopped at the freezing point? At least the stars are visibly enjoying their participation, although I would be a thousand times happier if none of them had to help Terry Gilliam and Heath Ledger was still among us. More or less only for him, for Johnny Depp and for Jude Law I give the two stars (I don't mention Farrell, because I couldn't watch that long)... (22/09/2012)

Five stars, that’s all there is to it. It's rare to see something like this in my commentary, but: A person who was bored by The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, disappointed by it, or bored and disappointed together, simply has no imagination, can't think about the film and doesn't want to dream. There. Imaginarium is great - every second, every shot, it oozes typical Gilliam, whose magical world I could recognize even blindly. It's commonplace that this American Python doesn't miss the mark even when choosing actors - here he hit the mark again. Several times. Ledger, Depp, Law and Farrell were all great. A charming Lily Cole, and Christopher Plummer, who has no problem looking homeless in one shot and like a dignified magician in the next... And last but not least, Tom Waits, one of the best devils of the film world. I applaud you all. And I wish Terry Gilliam would never stop telling stories (we know how important that is for the world, don't we?).__P.S. The released DVD offers (by today's lousy standards) an unprecedented portion of interesting bonus features. But the radio interview with Heath Ledger ("I'm going to finish shooting the new Terry Gilliam movie in three weeks") made me feel pretty damn anxious. (07/08/2010)