Monday 10 August 2009

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) trailer



I've been waiting for the trailer to this film for a long time. Before Ledger died, I spotted that he was collaborating with Terry Gilliam and thought that would be an interesting mix. After seeing pictures of the set designs I knew this would have an amazing look to it - it takes place in a travelling circus and - as long as the circus doesn't have clowns - I love them! The costumes and design of old-fashioned gothic circuses are incredible. And this film looks absolutely visually stunning.

I was kind of P.O'd that The Dark Knight was being marketed as Ledger's 'last film' because (as usual) it meant studio heads were ignoring Gilliam's latest efforts and this would likely never see the light of day. But luckily after it was shown at the Cannes Film Festival critics have gone mad for it and people are fighting over it. Woot!

I'm loving the look of it. Critics have said it's a true weird and wacky Gilliam world.

An observational note: Johnny Depp seems to be able to have only one British accent. He failed miserably at the one in From Hell and swore that next time he was going to make sure it would never happen again. He found his niche using the slurry Jack Sparrow accent and, from what I can tell, has stuck to that one ever since (think Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland). Bless.  

2 comments:

Lauren said...

I gotta say -the trailer looks REALLY AMAZING, visually...but I have absolutely no clue what it's about!

Ceri said...

Ooh, here Lauren: (Got this from IMDb)

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 obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all...