Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2010

©2009 Imaginarium Films, Inc. All Rights Reserved. ©2009 Parnassus Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved

In his best work in a decade, Terry Gilliam delivers his trademark visual panache, but with a discipline that’s as welcome as it is uncharacteristic. That’s not to say, however, that this is anything but a full-on three-ring circus. Overshadowing the entire film, of course, is Heath Ledger’s death halfway through shooting. Gilliam could have shut the whole thing down, but instead asked three of Ledger’s friends—Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell—to step in and finish the job. And it is most interesting how seamlessly this is done. “Having a magic mirror makes a lot of difference,” the director has said. Ledger et al. play a hustler who is rescued from death by a rundown traveling show, which he then joins up with and emerges as the key to helping the boozy Dr. Parnassus (a wonderful Christopher Plummer) win a 1,000-year bet with the devil (an even better Tom Waits). The show’s centerpiece is a magic mirror that allows customers to enter their own imaginations, wherein lie wondrous comforts as well as great perils. Cast includes Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole and Verne Troyer, who gets all the best punch lines. Phantasmagorical!