Dr. Parnassus' imaginary world

MANILA, Philippines - The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary Imaginarium, a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between good and evil.

Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr. Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr. Nick.

Valentina is now rapidly approaching this coming of age milestone and Dr. Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles, hellish creatures, and horrifying worlds — to undo mistakes of his past once and for all.

The announcement of a new Terri Gilliam film tends to evoke a lively mixture of excitement, curiosity and not a little apprehension. The visionary director has the reputation of a creative maverick, but his creations’ passage to the screen has not always been easy. Heath Ledger’s tragic loss during the production of the movie threatened closedown, but Gilliam fought to re-configure the story without losing the fine performance his star had committed to film. The director, his ensemble cast and crew worked tirelessly together to complete the journey which had begun in the fervid, boundless imagination of Gilliam and co-writer Charles McKeown.

“Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology,” the film’s producers reassured the media and public: “Each of the parts played by Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.”

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus opens today in theaters.