HELPED BY HIS TRAVELING THEATER TROUPE, INCLUDING THE SARCASTIC AND CYNICAL SIDEKICK PERCY, VERSATILE YOUNG PLAYER ANTON AND A MYSTERIOUS OUTSIDER NAMED TONY, DOCTOR PARNASSUS OFFERS HIS AUDIENCES THE CHANGE TO TRANSCEND MUNDANE REALITY BY PASSING THOUGH A MAGIC MIRROR AND ENTER INTO A FANTASTIC UNIVERSE OF LIMITLESS IMAGINATIONS. AN IRRESISTIBLE OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE BETWEEN LIGHT AND JOY OR DARKNESS AND INEVITABLE DOOM.
Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Doctor Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. A inveterate gambler, thousands of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in which he won immortality. 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 daughter reached her 16th birthday, 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, as 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...
When visionary director Terry Gilliam announced his newest project, is was received with a lively mixture of excitement, curiosity and apprehension. However, the production of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus would soon turn out to be a real challenge. Financing the project was an ordeal, but when Terry coincidentally met Heath Ledger who showed an eager interest to play Tony, he believed his problems were over. But the sudden death of Heath in January 2008 left Terry Gilliam and company scrambling to find a means of salvaging the film - which was already well into principal photography at the time. The cavalry soon arrived in the form of Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who each serve as alternate-dimension versions of the character originally set to be played by Ledger when the character crosses through the paranormal mirror.
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus was the last film project acclaimed actor and Academy Award winner Heat Ledger worked on. Co-starring in the film besides earlier mentioned Johnny Depp, Collin Farrell and Jude Law, are Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Verne Troyer and super model Lily Cole as Valentina. The film enjoyed its world premiere during the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, out of competition and is scheduled for theatrical release worldwide around Christmas this year. -B-
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