The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)

Director/co-writer/graphic designer Terry Gilliam brings us a visual feast made all the more interesting by the machinations necessary to finish it after the mid-production death of co-star Heath Ledger. Gilliam fans, Ledger fans, and movie buffs already know how it was done: three actors stepped in to finish three sequences, with re-writes that explain the physical transformations. One wag opined that this is classic Hollywood: there are always three guys waiting to take your job. Rumor has it that Tom Cruise asked to be considered, but Gilliam, who, in his own words, had become "really close" with Ledger, wanted only actors who were also good friends of the star, who died of an overdose of prescription drugs on January 22, 2008, less than 2 months after the start of principal photography (he wrapped his Oscar-winning scenes of The Dark Knight the previous April). 

The story is about Doctor Parnassus, played with usual gravity by 80-year-old Christopher Plummer (so many to list--I choose The Sound of Music (1965), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Inside Man (2006)), who keeps making bad deals with the devil (is there any other kind?). The devil in a bowler hat is played by gravel-voiced musician Tom Waits (The Heart of Saturday Night, The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)) who has a distinctive screen presence as well (Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law (1986), and member of the first-rate ensembles in Robert Altman's Short Cuts (1993) and Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), among others). Ledger (good in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Monster's Ball (2001), part of the ensemble of I'm Not There (2007), and, of course, Brokeback Mountain (2005), his Oscar nomination, and The Dark Knight, his win) plays Tony as a charming con man given to deep bows, flourishes, and flirting. 

Johnny Depp (see Public Enemies) is the first of the alter-egos, then Jude Law (see Sherlock Holmes), then Colin Farrell (my faves: Phone Booth (2002), A Home at the End of the World (2004), Cassandra's Dream (2007), and In Bruges (2008)). Each of them uses a Ledger-like dazzling smile and the same endearing awkwardness he shows in his own scenes. I also must mention 32-inch-tall Verne Troyer, best known as Mini-Me in two Austin Powers movies (1999, 2002). He has a fully realized role as Parnassus' friend and confidante Percy. Model Lily Cole does a nice job as Parnassus' daughter Valentina (nicknamed Strumpy, but I don't know why) as does Andrew Garfield as Anton. 

 My favorite Gilliam-directed movies are The Fisher King (1991, with Waits in an uncredited cameo as a bum), Brazil (1985), and Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). Charles McKeown co-wrote with Gilliam on Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), as well as this, which shares with those the melding of time eras, e.g. Doctor Parnassus' traveling show is a throwback to the late 19th century with its wooden stage flopping down onto a modern street, performers in Victorian/Shakespearean dress entertaining an audience holding cell phones. 

The costumes and sets are stunning, as is the animation. This project features plenty of the Gilliam animation we loved in Monty Python, with its fair share of giant heads rising and spinning over landscapes. Another Python reference is in the policeman's recruitment video--think of the song I'm a Lumberjack and I'm Okay. 

Two degrees of separation: Gilliam wrote, "This should cover up that nasty hole in your wall," on my roommate Helene's Brazil poster in 1984. The full publicity press kit (containing all sorts of spoilers) is available online and discusses the making-of and the players in the movie. Jack and I really liked this one. I see it as part II of a fantasy trilogy, starting with Avatar and passing right through the mirror into Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland, which will star Depp as the Mad Hatter. There's a We Are the World spoof, and, at the end of the (very long) credits, an audio bonus relating to it in a modern way.