Recently in Terry Gilliam Category

The second installment of Friday's triple-threat, Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is an often meandering, occasionally magnificent beauty, and a film that I expect will satisfy Gilliam fans, and those with a tolerance for his indulgences, more than it does people just looking to take in Heath Ledger's last curtain call.

To be honest, this motley extravaganza ends up running a bit too long. And Parnassus is a ragged carnival at that, becoming more inchoate as it spins its wheels. Plus, Ledger's final performance, alas, is mostly just set-up without the follow-through -- Other actors play the meat of the character. Still, despite the movie's very visible faults, Imaginarium nonetheless feels like a loving throwback to the days of Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination," particularly Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. (In fact, Gilliam now argues that this film replaces Brazil in that trilogy.) And, if, like me, you have any fondness for the old-school, crazy-cartoonist, anything-can-happen Gilliam, Imaginarium is a very worthwhile experience nonetheless.

True, Parnassus is nowhere near as good or as perfectly formed as Brazil, which remains Gilliam''s magnum opus. (Although one reason this movie may have that "classic" Gilliam feel to it is the presence of co-screenwriter Charles McKeown, who helped pen Brazil and Munchausen, and appeared in the former as "Harvey Lime," Sam Lowry's desk-mate.) Nor is it as taut and self-contained as the three quality entrants in Gilliam's "Trilogy of Americana" -- The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. All that being said, Parnassus is the best movie Gilliam has made in over a decade, and it definitely allows him the chance to let his freak flag fly.

For Imaginarium centers on a portal -- a magic mirror -- that keeps leading into a "world of pure imagination," one that bears some unmistakable glimmers of the old Monty Python scrapbook-cartoons. Kept in the possession of an immortal sage named Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer, in the plummiest (Plummiest?) role he's had in years), this mirror has been used as a field of not-so-friendly wagering between he and the Devil (Tom Waits, a casting coup) for thousands of years. Through this garden of Gilliamesque delights wander the unknowing souls who happen upon Dr. Parnassus' roadshow and walk through the mirror. And, more often than not -- people being people -- they make lousy decisions and end up in the bad company of Old Nick.

Now, thanks to another ill-advised bet with the Devil, the eternal soul of Parnassus' only daughter, Valentina (Lily Cole), is at stake. And, given that this good Doctor only has two allies in the world -- Percy, his diminutive and long-suffering #2 (Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer), and a young orphan lad named Anton (Andrew Garfield) -- it doesn't look like there's much help on the horizon. (Troyer, by the way, [a] cannot act worth a damn and [b] seems game for pretty much anything. But Garfield is really good. I kept thinking "Who is this guy? he's solid" throughout. And, unlike Sam Worthington, he actually seems deserving of some of the Next-Big-Thing hype he's getting right now.)

Anyway, as the tarot cards predicted, Dr. Parnassus' troupe encounters a hanged man underneath a bridge (Ledger -- yes, this intro is more than a bit eerie now.) Once revived, this fellow -- Tony, formerly a charity organizer who ran into trouble -- is something of an X-Factor in the age-old battle between Parnassus and the Devil. Whose side is he on? Well, as it turns out, he's on Tony's side. And, once he gets wind of the mirror, and the world that lies on the other side, he finds himself contemplating, almost despite himself, how he might best take advantage of the situation...

So, the elephant in the room -- Heath Ledger. As it turns out, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus represents both an amazing stroke of luck and a mild disappointment. The stroke of luck is that very few stories out there could accommodate Ledger's unfinished turn as well as this one. Here, the fact that Tony's appearance changes every time he steps into the mirror-world -- he becomes Johnny Depp, Jude Law, or Colin Farrell -- feels almost intuitive and organic, as if it could have been written this way in the first place. But that being said, most of Tony's major character-beats happen in the mirrorverse, and so Ledger's role in "our" world -- which is mostly just set-up -- feels unfinished all-the-same.

In fact, "unfinished" is a good way to sum up both the weaknesses and the strengths of Imaginarium. About 20 minutes in and after several early mirror-world reveries, right as we venture into the past to witness the Doctor's first Faustian wager, I was thinking this was turning out to be easily one of Gilliam's best films. But the movie loses its way in the muddled middle going, and by the time, late in the show, when Valentina dances with the Devil in the pale mirrorlight, I had sorta emotionally checked out of Parnassus. (Even then, it's still fun to watch random items well up from Gilliam's mindscape -- say, the upscale shopping mall and dowdy, pearl-clutching madam of Brazil ("My complication had a little complication"), or the fantasy-on-the-social-fringes aspects of The Fisher King. There's even a random musical number -- sung by policemen in fishnets, no less -- which just about screams Monty Python.

So, yes, Ledger's performance seems only half-there, and the rambling story at hand could've probably done with some screw-tightening. But, Imaginarium also feels "unfinished" in a happier sense. Whether this was a strange example of kismet or the script was tinkered with after Ledger's passing, several of the scenes -- most notably Johnny Depp's -- seem to comment directly in tribute to the fallen actor. ("Nothing is permanent, not even death.")

And in a sense, the whole movie works like that too. As we find out in flashback, Dr. Parnassus once headed a devout order of shamans committed to the Tinkerbellish proposition that, so long as somebody was telling a story, the universe would always continue to exist. Similarly, so long as people keep watching The Dark Knight or The Patriot, I'm Not There or Brokeback Mountain, Ten Things I Hate About You, or, yes, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, so too will Heath Ledger.

Since it's a lazy Sunday morning, which I'm about to spend watching football with one eye while catching up on work, and since it occurred to me earlier this weekend that the trifecta of Fame, Pandorum, and Surrogates just has to be the lamest movie weekend we've seen in many moons, here's the rest of the fall film schedule. If a movie is listed below without parentheses, it's on my must-see list -- Movies in paras are definitely-maybes. Also, some of these, particularly the ones in and around xmastime, may be limited release on the date given.

Out now: (The Baader-Meinhof Complex)

Oct. 2: A Serious Man. (Capitalism: A Love Story, The Invention of Lying, Whip It)

Oct. 9: (An Education, Zombieland)

Oct. 16: Where the Wild Things Are. (New York, I Love You)

Oct. 23: Amelia. (Astro Boy, Anti-Christ, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant)

Oct. 30: (Gentlemen Broncos)

Nov. 6: The Men Who Stare at Goats. (The Box)

Nov. 13: (2012, Pirate Radio)

Nov. 20: (Red Cliff)

Nov. 25: The Road. (Nine, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Me and Orson Welles)

Dec. 4: Up in the Air.

Dec. 11: The Lovely Bones. (Invictus)

Dec. 18: Avatar.

Dec. 25: The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. (Sherlock Holmes)

A big one I missed the other day (found on Vanity Fair): The trailer for Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is now online, with Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer, Lily Cole, and, in his final performance, Heath Ledger (abetted by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law.) Wow. Looks more Gilliamesque than anything Terry's done in years.

"Brazil' is the one that will probably be stamped on my grave because that on seemed to have made a big effect on a lot of people. And that's all I'm trying to do is affect people." CNN talks briefly with Terry Gilliam on Heath Ledger's passing, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and sundry other topics. "Talent is less important in filmmaking than patience. If you really want your films to say something that you hope is unique, then patience and stamina, thick skin and a kind of stupidity. A mule-like stupidity is what you really need."

"There's no escaping some pacts. Nearly ten years on I find myself lending a hand to get that crazed, giggling bedlamite back in the saddle. I'm talking about Don Quixote. In spite of God and the Devil, he shall ride again!" With The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus in the can and at Cannes, the inimitable Terry Gilliam sets his sights on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote once more. Here's hoping try #2 doesn't get Lost in La Mancha.

Soon after Heath Ledger's untimely death (ultimately ruled an accident) a few weeks ago, there was a rumor floating around that Johnny Depp would step in to save Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus by playing the "mirror-world" Heath. ("There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in.") As it turns out, the truth is even more interesting. According to AICN, Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell have all signed on for Imaginarium to pay tribute to Ledger and to help salvage his final performance. All class acts...here's hoping Gilliam can make something special out of Ledger's final bow.

"I feel very unsettled at the moment...It seems somehow strange to be talking about anything else. Not that there's anything to say really except to express one's regret and to say from the bottom of one's heart to his family and to his friends that I'm sorry for their trouble." Daniel Day-Lewis pays an emotional tribute to Heath Ledger. [Story.]

In related news, some reports indicate Johnny Depp, of the previously sidelined The Man who Killed Don Quixote, may be asked by Terry Gilliam to finish Ledger's work on Imaginarium. "There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could change into another character after that and that is where Johnny would come in. It’s a weird, fantasy, time-travel movie so Heath’s character could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment. Johnny’s not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it."

Update: Daniel Day-Lewis dedicates his SAG award to Heath Ledger.

Who knows what Faustian bargain he made this time, but Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is happily off the ground, and will begin shooting next month. (The script leaked last March.) Imaginarium will star Christopher Plummer (as the titular doctor), Heath Ledger, Verne Troyer, and, in a choice bit of casting, Tom Waits as the Devil.

EW lists the top 25 sci-fi offerings (in tv and film) of the past twenty-five years. Pretty arbitrary, really, but it includes Brazil (at #6), BSG (at #2 -- these two should have switched places), Children of Men (#14), Eternal Sunshine (#17 -- same problem), Aliens (#9), The Thing (#10), The X-Files (#4), Galaxy Quest (#24), and Blade Runner (#3), so it's by no means a bad list. (Both Lost and Heroes should be replaced, however.) Just from what's missing above, you can probably guess #1...can't you, Mr. Anderson?

Nothing's gonna change my world...except maybe the bean-counters at the studio. Word is Julie Taymor is getting the Terry Gilliam treatment from Revolution studios -- her forthcoming Beatlepalooza Across the Universe has been recut by studio executive Joe Roth without her knowledge, and Taymor may drop her name off the movie. Whatever Taymor put on film, I have to assume it's more interesting than anything Roth -- he of Christmas with the Kranks -- could come up with.

FilmIck.com publishes a long and very spoilerish review of a new Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown script, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. What with dwarves, dreams, and traveling circuses, this sounds right in their wheelhouse.

"Gilliam came nearest to inventing his own country with Brazil (1985), one of the key political films of the late 20th century. Brazil is one of the great political films, an extraordinary mixture of Fellini and Kafka, with a complex force of synthesized images, which belongs to Gilliam alone." In Slate, critic Clive James assesses Brazil's take on torture, and what Michael Palin's Jack Lint does and doesn't tell us about the men usually holding the implements.

As longtime readers might know (or might've adduced from some of the site banners above), I've always been a big Terry Gilliam fan, and will pony up for films considerably worse than The Brothers Grimm to repay the man for making Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and one my all-time favorite movies, Brazil. (In fact, "Ghost in the Machine" is the name of this site partly for the Brazil reference.) So it was a real treat yesterday when I and a friend from high school got to see Terry Gilliam live in the flesh last night at the IFC Center on 4th St. After making the rounds in front of The Daily Show yesterday afternoon, Gilliam showed up as part of IFC's Movie Night series, in which a director of some repute screens one of his favorite films. (In fact, he showed up with the sign he'd been lugging around outside all day: "STUDIOLESS DIRECTOR -- FAMILY TO SUPPORT -- WILL DIRECT FOR FOOD") Apparently, Gilliam had wanted to show One-Eyed Jacks, the 1961 western directed by Marlon Brando, but the Brando estate wouldn't deliver a print or somesuch.

So, the film we got instead was Jaco von Dormael's Toto le Heros (Toto the Hero), a bizarre Belgian concoction of 1991 that's part Prince and the Pauper, part Singing Detective, part Citizen Kane and very Gilliamesque. A movie that's hard-to-explain but that's definitely worth renting, Toto follows the story of one Thomas van Haserbroeck (Don't call him van Chickensoup), an imaginative young boy unsettlingly in love with his sister, a lonely man contemplating an affair with a mystery woman, and a deeply depressed senior citizen looking to exact revenge for a life-long grievance. Y'see, Thomas (or Toto, as he's called in his dream life, where he's a film noir gumshoe) insists he remembers being switched with another baby -- his wealthy next-door neighbor, Albert Kant -- during a fire at the hospital, and therein, in his mind, lies the source of most of his troubles. As the story switches back and forth in time, Toto and Albert's lives keep butting against each other in strange doppelganger fashion, while old-Thomas enacts a plan to reclaim his stolen life...

After the movie, Gilliam returned to the front for a wide-ranging Q&A session, which involved questions both probing ("Did you borrow from Toto in 12 Monkeys?" [No, don't think so.]) and peculiar ("Where'd you buy your shoes? Where's the worst place you ever spent the night?" [Birkenstocks, some backwater hut in India]) Along the way, Gilliam told tales of first meeting the Python guys, photographing Frank Zappa in 1967, choosing his various directors of photography, and, the battle of Brazil notwithstanding, generally enjoying the constraints of studio heads and limited budgets. (They focus him.) Speaking of which, he also said Good Omens still seems to be moving forward, and Quixote may still happen someday. (He also mentioned The Defective Detective briefly, but it seemed in the past tense.) And these days he's digging the new Dylan album, as well The Arcade Fire's Funeral and The Flaming Lips' At War with the Mystics.

At one point, he also said he was considering suing Bush, Cheney, et al for making an unauthorized remake of Brazil. With that in mind, I asked him whether his views on Brazil had changed at all now that we're kinda living it. (I mean, what with Cheney playing Mr. Helpmann, Canadian citizens getting Buttled, and the Dubya team now fully sanctioning Jack Lints, what's a good Sam Lowry to do, other than await his turn in the chair or on the waterboard?) He noted that, obviously, Brazil-type stuff was going on around the world at the time (in the Soviet bloc, Argentina, etc.) but that he watched the film the other day (to check out the new Criterion HD-DVD version) and was amazed at both how prescient and topical it was.

Throughout, Gilliam was amazingly friendly and personable, and came across a remarkably humble and down-to-earth guy. He kept taking questions well after the IFC-suit tried to close down the affair, and hung around the nearby cafe afterwards to sign various items. I ended up being the second guy in line, and got him to sign the Brazil still above (one of five I have framed in my hallway.) When he asked me my name for the signature, he lit up, "Kevin! Time Bandits Kevin!" I told him I was right around that age when I first saw Time Bandits, and he's definitely got a lot to answer for.

Speaking of Philip K. Dick, word on the street is the one and only Terry Gilliam will be heading The Owl in Daylight, a biopic of the author set to star Paul Giamatti in the lead. And, speaking of paranoid sci-fi-ish surveillance thrillers, Christopher Nolan looks set to board The Prisoner, as in a film version of the classic BBC series, after he finishes the Dark Knight.

"Nothing better illustrates the simplism of V for Vendetta, or better highlights the unflattering contrast with Brazil, than V's motto: "There are no coincidences." The comic beauty of Brazil's portrait of totalitarianism is that everything rests on random coincidence, which nudges the bureaucracy into its own blind and murderous momentum: A dead fly falls into a computer printer and -- voila -- poor law-abiding Buttle is mistaken for dangerous subversive Tuttle." Slate's Matt Feeney compares Brazil and V for Vendetta.

"It's got to the point that I think I just have to get it out of my system. Everyone's been asking me questions about it, so just to shut everybody up I've got to make a film." By way of Quiddity, Terry Gilliam, fresh off The Brothers Grimm and Tideland, may try to give The Man Who Killed Don Quixote another go. And word is, Depp's still on board.