Superficially, the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is a guilt-free indulgence into a world of wonderment, which truly explores the expansive imagination of director, Terry Gillam. However, beneath the surface – or, as in the film, through the mirror and into the Imaginarium – lies a world of disillusionment and a thinly-veiled but striking social commentary about a society that does not allow itself the beauty of its own imagination.

The film itself follows the ancient and immortal Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) whom, through various wagers with the devil, under the pseudonym of Mr. Nick (Tom Waits), has come to lead a band of performers through the streets of London in a dilapidated Victorian travelling theatre. Mr. Nick has come to collect his payment from a previous deal with the Doctor, a payment which manifests itself in the form of Valentina, the doctor’s daughter, played by model turned actress Lily Cole. As we soon find out, all is not quite as it seems, as Dr. Parnassus’ mysterious mirror within his Imaginarium is actually a doorway into the imagination of whoever steps through it. And so the film embarks on a strange journey through the imaginations of the theatre’s clientele, as Dr. Parnassus attempts to save the life of his one and only daughter. To complicate matters further, the troupe save the life of the enigmatic Tony, played by the late Heath Ledger, who is hanging from a bridge in the middle of central London.

Terry Gilliam has managed to create a varied and fantastical world on both sides of the mirror. The sharp contrast to the bleak wasteland that houses the theatre when not in use magnifies the brilliance and astounding aspects of the parallel worlds that are created within. It provides a cutting commentary on the world that surrounds our modern culture and the imagination’s ability to “transform and illuminate our lives”, which Ledger’s character references during the film.

A key theme to the film is the idea that the art of story telling has long since died out. Gilliam exemplifies this through the modernisation of the Theatre itself during a scene in the film. He challenges the necessity from modern audiences for new and exciting packaging in order to take notice of the stories that are being told. It seems it is no longer sufficient for the story to be good, but that the packaging that it comes in determines whether or not people are interested in the story that it tells.

The film is a startlingly original concept that speaks on many levels to the audience, if it is willing to listen. Gilliam, in a screen-talk held at the Barbican, described the film as a “choice between good and evil, better and worse”. The very first person to enter the imaginarium is a drunken lout whose choice is between a twenty-four hour bar or a steep mountain climb to ascendancy. Needless to say, he chooses the bar, with perilous results. Gilliam is holding a mirror up to modern society and showing it that, through its constant need for instant gratification and consumerism, we are damaging our own morality in the process.

Another aspect of the film, which offers a somewhat morbid curiosity, is the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger a mere third of the way through filming. On the subject of Ledger, Terry Gilliam made it clear that “no actor is good enough to replace Heath” and subsequently three actors (Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp) stepped in to fulfill the role of Tony. Gilliam stipulated that “the actors had to be friends of Heath”, with the end credits attributing the film to “Heath Ledger and friends”, as opposed to Gilliam’s own name. The scenes that feature Depp, Farrell and Law all occur on the imagination side of the mirror, allowing for seamless integration. With another director, or another film, this would have been an unimaginable feat. However, by setting the precedent that the world behind the mirror can not only enter another dimension but also shape the way a person looks when in the imagination of another, Gilliam manages to make the concept believable.

Gilliam explained that, after Heath’s death, “re-writing was surprisingly quick, we had to scrap scenes on this side of the mirror. We had Johnny for one day and a second day for three hours, that’s how good that guy is.” He also explained that Johnny Depp’s involvement with the film was crucial to it being finished, and that he believes that there are “movie gods” shaping his films. He offers a particularly coincidental anecdote about Johnny Depp’s first day of filming where he wanted to ad-lib a line of “Don’t shoot the messenger”. Unbeknownst to Depp, this was the last line that Heath Ledger recorded in his last scene before his death.  When asked the question about what trajectory the film would have taken had Heath not died, Gilliam replied flatly “it would have been what you saw, the script did not change”. At one point, Depp makes a moving speech about the those that die young never having to grow old and feeble with the ravishes of time, accompanied by tiny boats bearing images of Princess Diana, James Dean and Rudolph Valentino. Gilliam insists this was not intended as a eulogy to Heath and was written prior to his death.

Talking further, Gilliam said about that actor that there was “a gravitas about his work, he didn’t like film promotion. Brokeback Mountain bothered him, he sold his soul and nothing came of it. I asked Heath ‘why do you want to do this?’ Heath ironically said ‘because I want to see this movie’”.

It would seem that Ledger and Gilliam both shared a disdain for the trappings of Hollywood. To answer the quote from the film “Can you put a price on dreams?”, it would seem that you can. Gilliam describes the Hollywood bosses as “devils running the studios” and specifies that there’s “no American money” that went into the production of the film, labelling it as “evil stuff”. Terry’s disillusionment with Hollywood goes far back into his directing career, where in the past his movies have failed to reign in the bank-breaking Hollywood profits that the big studios are concerned with. Failed attempts at commercial hits such as Brothers Grimm and Tideland (2005), have left Gilliam labelled as a liability.

Though rather than see the lack of Hollywood endorsement as a setback, Gilliam seems to find it all rather liberating. “No American studio would have allowed us to have Heath hanging from a bridge”, a reference to Heath’s opening scene where he is rescued by Valentina and Anton (Andrew Garfield). “Hollywood only thinks in sequel and franchise terms, if I make a lot of money for them it would be easier”. The American opening for the film is scheduled for Christmas Day, Gilliam admits that “a lot depends on how it does in the UK”.

Gilliam also talked on his plans for future works, in which he mentioned a return to his disaster ridden previous attempt at The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. He said that the script was back from the French “legal wilderness”, however, fans may be disappointed as Depp is not set to star in Gilliam’s second attempt as he’s “busy doing Pirates of the Caribbean 12, so he’s out”.  Gilliam also hints at a collaboration with the equally weird and wonderful imagination of the author Terry Pratchett, on his Discworld novel Good Omens.

As Terry Gilliam talks, there is a definite sense that his view of the Hollywood community – and society as a whole – has become jaded. He himself calls this work “Our own version of Dante’s inferno, with morality at the heart of it, enraged at what the world has become”. Audiences of today want fast-paced action, wrapped in a familiar format that lies within the realms of the possible. However, Gilliam’s latest offering resides firmly in the realms of the fantastical. This sadly means that there’s a chance that it won’t be appreciated as the great work that it should be. With cross-dressing policemen and witty one-liners such as “suffer the little children”, Gilliam’s outing into his own imagination is just the sort of abstract and spectacular escapism that the gloom of reality has been crying out for. This is Gilliam’s personal Alice in Wonderland, as we go through the looking glass into his imagination and come out the other side, fulfilled and transformed. Just as the rich, superficial and seemingly satisfied women of the film step into the mirror to be transformed and shown the error of their materialist ways, so too will the audience members, who enter the cinema with an open mind and a willingness to view something a little bit different, be gifted with something satisfyingly original and fulfilling.

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