A Truly Magical Film

Dr. Parnassus had made a deal with the Devil that will give him immortality. Over the years Parnassus continued to make deals with devil including trading his immortality for youth when he meets the love of his life. The Devil however makes deal with Parnassus that when his daughter reaches the age of 16 she belongs to him. Now with her 16th birthday rapidly approaching Dr. Parnassus will make another deal with the devil. The first man to seduce 5 souls will win Valentina. Parnassus is willing to take on the help of anyone, including the mysterious Tony who seems to have eyes for Valentina.

Where do I start? There is so much I want to touch on during this review; I don’t know where to start. I will start with Terry Gilliam. His stunning world comes to life. Gilliam crafted this in his mind and it came to life beautifully on the big screen. This film has some of the best visuals I have seen in recent films. It was all about what one imagined anything they wanted to see when they stepped through the magic mirror. The possibilities were endless, and Gilliam showed us just a tiny glimpse into the minds of certain people. I like his semi-dark semi-humorous approach. It really helped lighten up the film at certain times.

Dr. Parnassus had the gift of guiding the imagination of others, some might say that is a great gift, but as already mentioned it comes with a price, and that price is his daughters freedom at the age of 16. Parnassus despite having this wonderful ability was often seen as poor and homeless. You see people look down upon those types of people. Christopher Plummer looked old, and that added substance to his performance. His liquored up failing Dr. Parnassus was an oddity. This performance was stellar, perfection if I might say so.

Lily Cole was perfectly cast as Valentina, she isn’t a widely known actress, but she has the potential. This film was her first big performance and she did really well. She was beautiful as well as powerful in some of her scenes and that is all one can really hope for. She couldn’t run from her life because she was bound by the Devil to her father, a secret she wasn’t aware of, but as she started to put it all together she realized that her father wasn’t the best of men. All though her father had traded her away Valentina could not help but love him anyway.

And that brings me to the hardest of all Topics to discuss. Heath Ledger, what a brilliant performance in his final film performance. Tony was mysterious, Parnassus and his friends find him hanging under a bridge and all throughout the film Tony tries so desperately to keep his secret hidden from the rest of them. But like all secrets it does come out. Ledger is and will forever be considered a phenomenal young actor. His final performance was one that showcased his talent in its truest form. This film was a lot better than anyone could have imagined it to be. I am saddened by Heaths death and will forever wonder what this man could have done, but what saddens me the most about his death is that his young daughter Matilda has to grow up never knowing him as a father, and all she has are images of him in his films. I found myself getting sad when Tony transformed into Johnny Depp, then back to Ledger, then to Law and back to Ledger but when he went into the mirror that one last time I had a mixed feeling. I was sad of course, but also I found myself completely focused on this performance. Heath gave us one final showing of brilliance, and that is how I want to remember this film. I have a lot of respect for what Heath did as an actor, and I hope his name and his stunningly brilliant performances can live on for many generations to come.

This film as I said was surprisingly better than I could have ever hoped for. It was magical, and explained itself. The characters were vibrant, and they were people with issues, magical fairy tale issues, but issues none the less. Terry Gilliam has given us one last film in which to remember Heath Ledger by. I find it eloquent that Heaths final movie was so magical and so beautiful in its own right, just as his career was.

A good solid film. Not for everyone, see it for the right reasons.

R.I.P Heath Ledger 1979-2008. Your passion and energy will never be forgotten.


8/10