Director Terry Gilliam loves to mess up with rationality and narrative spatiotemporal rules. Though a little less evident on this one, we still find this trademark in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, to be discovered on Friday, December 25th! With a three-star worth cast (last performance from the late Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp and Jude Law among others), the audience without any doubt should be charmed by Twelve Monkeys director’s new magical world (each scene seems unusual and quirky). Visually coloured in a Burton-style, Paranassus’ ramblings make up for the few scenario and emotional weaknesses of the screenplay. Though sometimes a little dull, this new feature from former Monty Python is still an excellent way to spend two pleasant hours watching a rather unusual feature in a visually charming off-beat universe!

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…

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