The man who tried to cheat the devil.|Oct. 01, 2009|United Kingdom | France | Canada|123 Min.|PG-13
Genre: Adventure;Fantasy;Mystery
Description: Doctor Parnassus, an elderly sage with a long beard, leads a struggling traveling theater troupe outside a London pub. The group includes his teenage daughter Valentina, a skilled barker and illusionist named Anton, and Percy, a dwarf assistant. Their main attraction is a portal to a magical realm called the “Imaginarium,” a surreal dream world that adapts to the desires of its visitors. Here, individuals face a choice between the challenging path of self-fulfillment or the easier path of ignorance. After a drunkard succumbs to the latter, Doctor Parnassus laments another loss to Mr. Nick, a cunning embodiment of the Devil, who frequently mocks Parnassus for his failures. Mr. Nick reminds Parnassus that in three days, Valentina will turn 16, and her soul will belong to him. Centuries earlier, Mr. Nick tricked Parnassus into accepting immortality through a wager similar to the current one.
While crossing a bridge, the troupe rescues a man hanging beneath it. Revived, the man spits out a golden pipe that saved him during his hanging. Claiming amnesia, he avoids explaining his past. Parnassus, burdened by the impending loss of Valentina, is visited by Mr. Nick, who reveals the man’s identity: Tony Shepard, a disgraced philanthropist who was being hanged by Russian gangsters for unpaid debts. Mr. Nick proposes a new wager: Valentina can remain with Parnassus after her 16th birthday if Parnassus secures five souls for self-fulfillment within the Imaginarium before Mr. Nick claims five souls for ignorance. Tony joins the troupe as a charismatic barker, outshining Anton, who grows suspicious. Tony modernizes the show, and during a performance, he entices a wealthy woman into the Imaginarium, stepping into a colorful dream world shaped by her imagination.
Cast director: Terry Gilliam
Cast actor: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Verne Troyer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Tom Waits, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law, Fraser Altcheson
Original name: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus