Review:
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Plot:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is an impressive fantasy tale deeply rooted in morality. Set it the present day, the movie tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his incredible "Imaginarium", a traveling show where any person who comes to visit has the opportunity to choose between light, joy, darkness, or gloom; in essence, parts of the imagination. Dr. Parnassus is able to do these extraordinary things because long ago he made a bet with the devil, in which he won. His prize was immortality. Centuries later, Dr. Parnassus meets his true love, and after another meeting with the devil, Dr. Parnassus trades in his immortality for youth. However, unlike before where he won a bet against the devil, this time he made a deal: Dr. Parnassus promised the devil his first-born child as soon as he/she reached the age of sixteen.

Dr. Parnassus has a daughter, and as she approaches sixteen he becomes more and more fervent in finding a method to protect her. When the devil comes to collect, Dr. Parnassus cleverly wages a bet with the devil. Always willing to gamble, the devil rescinds his original wager for a new one: the first person to seduce the "first five souls" will win Dr. Parnassus' daughter. In the end, Dr. Parnassus enlists a wild variety of people to help him on his journey and promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the first man that can help him in this endeavor, and once and for all undo the mistakes of his past.

Review:

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus can be viewed in one of two ways: with open eyes, or with goggles. If you are unfamiliar with Terry Gilliam, the Director and co-writer of the film, it's easy to see how one can view the movie and not understand what is going on. It's almost like you're wearing movie beer-goggles, where nothing is making sense and the world is diluted and nonsensical. Terry Gilliam is a director with a mind for creating movies like this. He's widely known for Brazil, several Monty Python movies, and Fearing and Loathing in Las Vegas. And The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is no different. Chalk full of incoherent psychonaut traveling, The Imaginarium does more than take a new direction to what can be called fanstastical: it rewrites what fantastic is to begin with. And I'm not talking fantastic as in it's a great movie. Well, this is an excellent movie, however fantastic in this sense speaks more of fantasy and fiction than a complimenting adjective.