Did you ever suspect that maybe the devil was a gambling addict? Me too!
The main pull for me, coming into this movie, was to see Heath Ledger act again. I knew his character would be mashed up with other actors due to his unfortunate demise, but fully appreciated the way it was handled. It even added to the story. Also Colin Ferral is far better at acting sleezy then the kind faced Heath would have been.
This story was about finding the truth. Not only in the world, but in yourself. When people are so often characterized by their desires Parnassus's job is to help them live without. His show and his own character are very homely. (like a bum-jesus) Through the experience of his imagination the customer will find a choice before them, often what they are and what they should be. Once the choice is made it's much like heaven or hell. Actually...it's exactly like heaven and hell, because if you choose well then Parnassus drops you on the street to start your new life, while the wrong choice hands your soul to the devil.
Now I can explain my first statement. The films plot is a duel between Parnassus (our jesus figure) and the Devil (our devil figure). Parnassus does give people teh choice adn oppertunity to change their lives, but is not sinless himself. Though purehearted he has made a deal with the devil and is spending his whole immortal life fighting it off. The Devil has no problem keeping Parnassus alive because the old Doc never refuses a bet to fre his own soul. This is where Mr. Ledger comes in.
He first appears under a bridge with a noose around his neck. He has forgoten his name and catches a ride with the Doc and his family of misfits. A very snappy Dwarf (vern troyer) Anton, and the Doctors daughter Valentina. Together they face an onslaught of problems between a failing production with which they must save souls from the devil, an awkward love triangle, a drunken Parnassus, and the hidden and twisted past of Tony (Ledger). Through the teamwork required to beat the Devil, and the wonders of the Doctors healing dream scape they do find themselves. As the lesson is supposed to teach us, its not always what you want at first, but what you overlooked on the way that was really you.
My technical comments on the movie related largely to the visuals, and blending-of-the-Heaths. At moments the special effect were spotless and made for great scale and power in cinematography. While inside the dream world we got just that. We could see the cartoon like state of things, but to the characters it didn't matter becasue of the desires they were seeing. A sort of euphoric beergogle for the imagination. On the part of Heath's character (i really should think about that phrase becasue he did share it with a lot of people) there was brilliant acting. I actually have to step back and admit I may like it better this way then if they'd had him do the whole thing. The suductive tangent which Johnny Depp played went far smooter with his whisperier voice, Jude Law held out as an ambitious go getter, while Colin managed to turn our trusted tony into his true nature with a nastolgic hint at the man we hoped he was in the begining.
The only part I realized was lacking at the end was a background on Parnassus. It felt as though we witnessed the darkest part of what had to be a full and extrodinary life (he was after all...immortal).
The main pull for me, coming into this movie, was to see Heath Ledger act again. I knew his character would be mashed up with other actors due to his unfortunate demise, but fully appreciated the way it was handled. It even added to the story. Also Colin Ferral is far better at acting sleezy then the kind faced Heath would have been.
This story was about finding the truth. Not only in the world, but in yourself. When people are so often characterized by their desires Parnassus's job is to help them live without. His show and his own character are very homely. (like a bum-jesus) Through the experience of his imagination the customer will find a choice before them, often what they are and what they should be. Once the choice is made it's much like heaven or hell. Actually...it's exactly like heaven and hell, because if you choose well then Parnassus drops you on the street to start your new life, while the wrong choice hands your soul to the devil.
Now I can explain my first statement. The films plot is a duel between Parnassus (our jesus figure) and the Devil (our devil figure). Parnassus does give people teh choice adn oppertunity to change their lives, but is not sinless himself. Though purehearted he has made a deal with the devil and is spending his whole immortal life fighting it off. The Devil has no problem keeping Parnassus alive because the old Doc never refuses a bet to fre his own soul. This is where Mr. Ledger comes in.
He first appears under a bridge with a noose around his neck. He has forgoten his name and catches a ride with the Doc and his family of misfits. A very snappy Dwarf (vern troyer) Anton, and the Doctors daughter Valentina. Together they face an onslaught of problems between a failing production with which they must save souls from the devil, an awkward love triangle, a drunken Parnassus, and the hidden and twisted past of Tony (Ledger). Through the teamwork required to beat the Devil, and the wonders of the Doctors healing dream scape they do find themselves. As the lesson is supposed to teach us, its not always what you want at first, but what you overlooked on the way that was really you.
My technical comments on the movie related largely to the visuals, and blending-of-the-Heaths. At moments the special effect were spotless and made for great scale and power in cinematography. While inside the dream world we got just that. We could see the cartoon like state of things, but to the characters it didn't matter becasue of the desires they were seeing. A sort of euphoric beergogle for the imagination. On the part of Heath's character (i really should think about that phrase becasue he did share it with a lot of people) there was brilliant acting. I actually have to step back and admit I may like it better this way then if they'd had him do the whole thing. The suductive tangent which Johnny Depp played went far smooter with his whisperier voice, Jude Law held out as an ambitious go getter, while Colin managed to turn our trusted tony into his true nature with a nastolgic hint at the man we hoped he was in the begining.
The only part I realized was lacking at the end was a background on Parnassus. It felt as though we witnessed the darkest part of what had to be a full and extrodinary life (he was after all...immortal).
Top Box Office
- 1.$70.2M
- 2.$35.8M
- 3.$23.9M
- 4.$3.2M
- 5.$3.0M
- 6.$2.8M
- 7.$2.3M
- 8.$2.2M
- 9.$2.2M
- 10.$1.2M