Review of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) by Chris K — 22 Sep 2012

A wildly strange and twisted film, but also wickedly deep and thought provoking. Terry Gilliam's wild and strange mind has given us one of the strangest but insanely brilliant films I may have ever seen.

The plot is super thick with symbolism, each character is necessary to advancing the plot and the overarching character archetypes, and the beautiful and strange world of the imaganirium. Where as most movies have scenes simply to just break up the plot or action, TIODP is truly chock full of important scenes and mostly the entire film adds up to the overall message that Gilliam is trying to portray. (I won't go into specifics).

The Imagniarium is also sometimes too incredibly strange and bizarre, and some of the acting is off. But the performances of Plummer, Ledger, Depp, Law, Ferrel, Garfield, Troyer, and Waits all add up to something significant and important. Not to mention this is one of the greatest casts ever put together for such a "different" film.

It's a dark, thinking man's fantasy film; one with atypical characters, muted plot points and emphasis on portraying an important moral story. It begs to be discussed afterwards, as The Imagnarium is chock full of symbolism, metaphors, morals, and thought. What we're left with is a wildly original film, an imaginative mess of a film, and a brilliantly crafted and original tale of good versus evil that doesn't feel bloated, cliche, or pointless.

This is a movie with a message. Whatever that may be is left up to the viewer.