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, Dr. Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in which he won immortality. Many 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 first-born reached its 16th birthday he or 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 obstaclesand undo the mistakes of his past once and for all.
Canadian Connection: Partly filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Absolutely loved it. Not having ledger there to finish it was a shame, but i think they did an amazing job incorporating the different actors into his role, that it almost felt the movie should have been that way in the first place.
Felt the movie was about 20 min too long story wise, but all in all quite happy I went to see it and gave it a chance!
SPOILER: Anyone who doesnt understand the plot, i dunno what your watching, it was pretty easy.. hes trying to win a bet to keep his daughter!
Screwy! SUCH a screwy movie! Interesting, funny, absolutely gorgeous, a little predictable, and possibly too long (I counted twice when they could have ended the movie before they did) but totally worth your $10. Colin Farrell is especially fantastic!
what a wonderful way of examining the age old struggle between the powers of good and evil