Review of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) by Sums I — 08 Feb 2012

Be mesmerized by the incredible visuals, enthralled with the characters, and confused by the point of the movie. While I certainly enjoyed this film, it is uneven and strange and will not be appreciated by everyone.

The scenes in the mirror are surreal, odd, even breathtaking at times... and this is by far the movie's best feature. It's like living a waking dream, being fully conscious of the strange world around you... and ultimately choosing a path of redemption or destruction. I find it interesting that the choices made in the mirror generally reflected the direction of a person's life path - the evil people picked an evil path, and those with a moral compass were them who were redeemed.

The characters were also intriguing, with some expert acting chops all around. It's an A-List cast and production for what is certainly more an art-house type of movie.

My overall feeling was a desire for more REASON in the randomness, and perhaps that is a point in and of itself. Perhaps we can not always have things explained, but make do with what we are given. It is this type of movie that people will write all sorts of analysis about... but they will never have THE definitive answer. You make up your own mind, and if you are ready for that kind of thing you should be able to sit back and appreciate some of the genius in this film despite it's oddities.