Precious is a new-style weepie but one that is much more bracing than depressing
Precious
Theatre
Ian McKellen is captivating throughout. He delights in the play’s gallows humour, yet is also maudlin and poignant
Waiting for Godot
Theatre
Slight quibbles notwithstanding, this will set the West End’s stock riding high
Enron
Utterly, utterly brilliant. You really are in for a treat
Though 'Trilogy' has won rave reviews, I personally found myself exasperated after about an hour
We went on a quiet sunday evening and the food was excellent, but the experience let down by the service and ambiance
London,
Nick Curtis's rating
Reader rating
Final act: Heath Ledger as the myserious Tony with Lily Cole as Der Panassus’s daughter Valentina in the film
Terry Gilliam’s latest film is a triumph. That Dr Parnassus was finished at all following the death mid-shoot of its star Heath Ledger is impressive. That it hangs together as a striking work of fantasy is truly remarkable.
We are in familiar, fairytale Gilliam territory where imagination wars against dull reality, and innocence vies with evil, in a warped version of contemporary London.
The rackety travelling theatre of Dr P (Christopher Plummer) can transport people to their mind’s delight. But imagination takes energy, and many prefer the easy pleasures offered by devilish Mr Nick (Tom Waits). Worse, Dr P is to lose his own daughter Valentina (Lily Cole) to Mr Nick on her imminent 16th birthday after a failed wager.
When Dr P discovers Ledger’s mysterious Tony hanging, near dead and amnesiac, under Blackfriars Bridge, he enlists him as an ally. But is Tony hero or villain?
With odd synchronicity the three actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell) who took over Ledger’s role for the fantasy sequences inside the Imaginarium, hint at darker sides to his personality. There are some dazzling visions here of giant stilt-walks and rivers that become rearing cobras, but the atmospheric scenes where Dr P’s caravan drags through derelict Battersea and menacing Clerkenwell work better.
Gallery: Dr Parnassus premiere
The rivalry between Parnassus and Mr Nick rambles on a bit, and the denouement involving Russian gangsters and children’s organs is awkward.
Perhaps understandably, this fantasy doesn’t have quite the coherence of Gilliam’s masterpiece Brazil. Plummer is a joy to watch, though, as a boozy and barely veiled directorial self-portrait. The sometime supermodel Cole, too, is surprisingly good, her weird prettiness and gamine sexuality recalling Uma Thurman’s debut in Gilliam’s Baron Munchausen. And Ledger?
His magnetic energy makes you rue again the loss of an actor it took three stars to replace. It also makes you glad Gilliam had the tenacity and (yes) imagination to complete his film.
The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus opens on Friday 16 October.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
One of the worst films |I have ever seen. Why does nobody have the guts to slag off a film (deservedly) just because one of the actors died? Do not waste your time with this film, wondering if you are about to miss a "good bit", as the whole thing is appallingly bad. Where are all the bad reviews?????? Why was I not warned?!
- Dan Mcardle, canterbury
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