I wonder if it is possible to simply watch Dr. Parnassus as a movie, minus all the subtext and circumstance that surrounds it.    I know it wasn’t possible for me.   Perhaps in twenty years, someone will pop this in the 3D hologram machine, and at the end, wonder what all the fuss is about.   Because as a movie, it’s pretty minor, pretty flawed, and pretty strange.   It comes from the Island of Misfit Toys;  it’s the kind of movie you love–or at least feel affection, and perhaps pity, for– because of its flaws, not in spite of them.

“Parnassus” is about a wizard/mystic/sage/entertainer(Christopher Plummer) who is able to offer people entrance into their own imaginary worlds.   Unfortunately, he does so through a gift-wrap paper looking glass that is part of a shabby travelling show, so very few people give him a second look or bother to sample what he is offering.   He, his daughter(Lily Cole) the requisite dwarf (Verne Troyer, predictably awful) and a stage hand (Andrew Garfield) live in poverty, stealing more meals than they earn, in spite of possessing what must be considered the Most Amazing Show on Earth.

Now parallel that to director Terry Gilliam’s career.   For thirty years, since his days with Monty Python, Gilliam has made some of the most original, creative, and unique films out there.    Almost all of them have been box office failures.   Some of them, like “Brazil” and “Twelve Monkeys, and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”  have attained cult status.   Gilliam ought to be spoken of in the same breath as directors like Tim Burton, Henry Selick, maybe even David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro, but he isn’t.   He’s the outsider amongst the outsider, the shabby, rambling showman who has something incredible to show you, if you’d just slow down on your way to the latest ruination of “Alice in Wonderland” to see it.   He is Dr. Parnassus.

And you’ve probably heard that “Parnassus” is Heath Ledger’s last film; he died while it was still being shot,  and there was some question as to whether it would be finished at all.   Ledger plays a stranger the troupe finds one night hanging from a bridge; he ought to be dead but isn’t.   He has amnesia, or maybe he doesn’t, and thus can’t remember who he is or where he came from, except maybe he can, and doesn’t want to.   He joins the troupe and attempts to modernize their approach, which as mentioned before, is badly needed.   Ledger finished filming all of the scenes outside of the magical Imaginarium.   And then he died.

What follows is perhaps the most heart-breaking, beautiful and memorable tributes in movie history.   To finish his final film, Ledger’s friends sub in for him.  Johnny Depp takes a turn, then Jude Law, and finally Colin Farrell (rumor has it that Tom Cruise wanted a shot, but Gilliam turned him down, because Ledger didn’t know him personally.)  This works, mostly, because they are inside the Imaginarium; the rules are different.   It works, supremely, because it makes “Parnassus” feel less like a piece of entertainment and more like a labor of love.   Ledger’s friends carry him across the finish line, and the movie is made.    If that doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you are made of stone.

The plot involves a deal that Parnassus has made with the devil (played, with relish and appropriate scenery-chewing, by Tom Waits) involving his beautiful daughter.   As I watched this bearded wizard scramble to escape the devil, make a new deal, beg, borrow or steal his way out of it, again my thoughts turn to Gilliam.   He’s not a young man anymore, and it must grow harder and harder to find people willing to finance the movies he wants to make.   At what point must the travelling show come to an end, the child of his heart be sold to the highest bidder, and this wonderfully imaginative director start churning out Cameron-esque moneymakers?   I hope there’s still a few ticks on the clock for him.

By Willie Krischke — July 19, 2008

Right off the, um, bat, “The Dark Knight” establishes itself as a different kind of comic book movie. Actually the seeds of its change are in its predecessor, “Batman Begins,” when Batman declares Gotham a city worth saving.   Now Batman carries the city on his shoulders, and must prove that he was right in his decision to not let Gotham go the way of Rome. Many superheroes have saved their city in a physical sense – defusing the bomb, defeating the megalomaniac – but never before has a superhero needed to save the city’s soul, as well. Christopher Nolan, who wrote the script for “The Dark Knight” with his brother Jonathan, makes that Batman’s task. The result is a movie with more weight, gravitas, and moral energy than any superhero movie before it.

Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker was legendary before anyone ever saw the movie, due in part to the actor’s tragic death shortly after the shooting. It is with great relief that I can report that the performance lives up to the hype. The Joker is the scariest villain to come along in quite a while, primarily because Ledger plays him with such ferocious intensity, intelligence, and bone-chilling aggression. Jack Nicholson’s Joker always seemed to be on stage; he was primarily a circus performer, with the unfortunate habit of killing people in his act. He was evil, but only incidentally. Ledger’s Joker is evil primarily. He is a villain on par with Iago and Mephistopheles; he never offers a reason for his destructive nature, and never needs one. As Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler, says, “some people just want to watch the world burn.” Some credit should go to the writers; the Joker may come across as a nutcase, but he is truly scary precisely because he’s not insane. The Joker is, if anything, an extremely evangelistic nihilist. He describes himself as “an engine of chaos,” and yeah, he’s got a hemi.

In a way, it’s a movie about the human condition, a spiritual as well as physical battle for the city. As Batman strives to bring hope to Gotham and looks forward to a day when the people will unite, take pride in their community and themselves, and no longer need the symbol he provides, the Joker wants to reduce the people of Gotham to their most base, self-serving and primitive tendencies. He continually sets up situations in which regular people must make impossible choices; his aim is to demoralize the people and cripple their spirits. Batman, on top of tripping up the Joker’s destructive traps, must find ways to make sure the Joker doesn’t win the moral battle. If Batman saves the girl, but the soul of the city dies anyway, the Joker has won. The stakes have never been higher.

“The Dark Knight” has an amazing supporting cast for a summer blockbuster. Gary Oldman returns as good cop Gordon, and his performance is more important to the whole feel of the movie this time around. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.  This casting change is on par with upgrading from a blowup doll to a real girl.  And Aaron Eckhart is Harvey Dent, the DA and “hero Gotham needs,” in Wayne’s own words. Dent is Rachel Dawes’ current squeeze, and surprisingly, the movie chooses to mostly underplay the ensuing love triangle, allowing the men to actually listen to and like each other.  Filling out the cast are Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, as Bruce Wayne’s support team. Both are given more to do this time around, and neither performance is wasted.

“The Dark Knight” gives the viewer about twenty minutes to remember the characters and enjoy Batman’s awesomeness, then cranks the dial to 11 and doesn’t let up for two solid hours. There isn’t a moment that isn’t tense and exciting; Nolan has solved the pacing problems he had with “Batman Begins” by just never letting up this time around.  I’ve heard it described as dark and depressing; this seems odd to me, as so much of the movie is concerned with hope and the future. But it is fast-paced, intense, and at times, ruthless. It is a vision of a film, well realized and unforgettable. Let’s hope it sets a standard other movies will feel compelled to acknowledge, and strive toward.

Recommended

• if you felt like “Batman Begins” was a much needed reboot to the series.
• If you like movies with a deeper, darker, more spiritual element to them.
• If you want to see the best action flick of the summer, and one of the best movies of the year.

Not Recommended

• if you like the campy, Adam West/George Clooney Batman better
• If you think comic book/superhero movies ought to be shallow and kind of silly. These are men dressed up in costumes, after all.
• If you’re easily frightened. Ledger’s the Joker might be nightmare-inducing.