I have been eagerly awaiting the release of both The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus (hereafter Imaginarium for sake of ease) and The Fatastic Mr. Fox (hereafter Mr. Fox, for exactly the same reason). I saw Imaginarium last week and Mr. Fox last night, I saved the Parnassus review for now because the two titles combined together like some kind of sublime Transformer.
MOVING ON, Imaginarium is the latest release from the hugely imaginative and slightly scary director Terry Gilliam. I want to know how his brain works. With ambitious projects to his name such as: Time Bandits, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Brazil my expectations were of a visually lush feast of imaginative, crazed and fantastical imagery. It did not dissapoint on this count, that much is certain. I think it is safe to say the main draw to watch this film from most audience members perspective is the fact that it is Heath Ledger's last film. This fact didn't really interest me that much. He was a good actor but nothing as incredible as everybody seems to have stated post-humously. But this is besides the point. His performance in this film is assured; convincingly portraying a likeable, mysterious and confident character. The huge problem with it is his accent flits back and forth between being the cockney lad he is supposed to be and then into a piercing Australian drawl. It is dissapointing that an actor of supposedly such high calibre cannot perform the simple task of doing an accent, poor show. Tom Waits and Johnny Depp stole the show when it comes to performances, absolutely astonishing. Particularly Tom Waits who isn't a professional actor on any level, personally I think he out acted Ledger. (I now feel bad for laying into Heathy a bit too much, sorry mate.) Andrew Garfield who played Anton is a name to look out for in the future, showing much promise. Christopher Plummer does his usual thing of playing less humourous, wiser, more confused, more white version of Morgan Freeman.
Moving on from the acting the narrative was engaging but bordering on tiresome just because it can be very very confusing. Gilliam has a habit of doing this, his imagination runs away with him and key narrative centre pieces are not explained properly or are brushed over hastily to make way for more hugely creative set pieces. I can forgive the problems with the narrative because even if you don't fully understand the plot the scenes within The Imaginarium are so visually arresting that nothing else really seems to matter. I wish this film had been released in 3D because it would be one of the most amazing visual experiences to grace audiences eyes since 2001: A Space Odyssey.
(have I gone to far with this? or not far enough?)
Production of the film faced huge problems after the tragic death of Heath Ledger. They had not filmed any of the scenes within the Imaginarium which feature Ledger's character heavily. Fortunately this did not stop Gilliam who was considering closing production completely. They got Johnny "I'm depressingly good looking" Depp, Colin "I'm a player' Farrel" and Jude "I'm a massive cunt" law on board. they play Ledger's role in the scenes within the Imaginarium. This actually works arguably better than if Ledger had been around to play the parts, adding to the layer of mystery surrounding his character. Hats off to the three musketeers for playing the role essentially for free as well as they didn't want their fellow colleagues last acting performance to be lost to audiences.
I would certainly recommend that you go and see this film (providing it is still being screened). Even if the narrative can be quite frustrating it is compensated for by the hugely impressive scenes within the Imaginarium. This is a film that I think anybody could enjoy if they give it a chance but few will love. My advice: watch it with an open mind.
I would like to say this brings me neatly to Mr. Fox but it doesn't. Anyway-I have also been eagerly anticipating the release of this. Wes Anderson used to be on of my favourite directors a few years ago. Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore I would still rate as some of my favourite films of all time. His mixture of Renoir-esque poetic realism visuals against a back drop of dysfunctional American family's lives creates a wonderful tone that is at times funny and at other time heart shatteringly emotional. I think he went down hill with Darjeeling Limited because I started to get a bit bored of his style and it was a bit overly indulgent.
So as much as I was looking forward to Mr. Fox because it was based on one of my favourite child hood books and by one of my favourite contemporary directors I was dubious that he could potentially ruin it. Fortunately he did not. Anderson manages to hold his authorial presence over the film with everything you would expect from an Anderson film (lack of a real father figure, quirky dialogue, dysfunctional characters, use of 60's British rock music, meticulously organised mise-en-scene, comedy spliced against an emotional core etc.) it manages to hold true to Dahl's oratory and visual style. Anderson wrote the script with Noah Baumbach (who is also a hugely talented screen writer/director) at Roald Dahl's house. All of the furniture found within Mr. Fox's home are replicas of the furniture within Dahl's own house. This attention to the source material is what prevents the film from sinking into Anderson's often overly indulgent tendencies.
There is alot of humour in this film which like many of Anderson's old work makes you smile alot as opposed to laugh out loud. Emotionally this was not as serious as his other work I don't think. Often his other films have moved me to tears but this didn't really come close. This is understandable though because it is based on a light hearted book for children so the lack of a strong emotional core is forgivable.
My main issue with the film is the animation, which looks pretty average at best. On his previous film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Anderson got the hugely talented Henry Selick on board to do the stop motion animation and it looked amazing. Although at times the rustic nature of the animation is charming I cannot help but feel it would be more impressive if they had somebody more professional on board.
Having said this the sub-par animation compared to other stop motion films that have been released recently e.g. Coraline did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this film. Hats off to Anderson for keeping his authorial presence resonant through the film without it being overbearing. It stays true to the source material and I am certain anybody of any age will enjoy this film. Check it out.
(have I gone to far with this? or not far enough?)
Production of the film faced huge problems after the tragic death of Heath Ledger. They had not filmed any of the scenes within the Imaginarium which feature Ledger's character heavily. Fortunately this did not stop Gilliam who was considering closing production completely. They got Johnny "I'm depressingly good looking" Depp, Colin "I'm a player' Farrel" and Jude "I'm a massive cunt" law on board. they play Ledger's role in the scenes within the Imaginarium. This actually works arguably better than if Ledger had been around to play the parts, adding to the layer of mystery surrounding his character. Hats off to the three musketeers for playing the role essentially for free as well as they didn't want their fellow colleagues last acting performance to be lost to audiences.
I would certainly recommend that you go and see this film (providing it is still being screened). Even if the narrative can be quite frustrating it is compensated for by the hugely impressive scenes within the Imaginarium. This is a film that I think anybody could enjoy if they give it a chance but few will love. My advice: watch it with an open mind.
I would like to say this brings me neatly to Mr. Fox but it doesn't. Anyway-I have also been eagerly anticipating the release of this. Wes Anderson used to be on of my favourite directors a few years ago. Royal Tennenbaums and Rushmore I would still rate as some of my favourite films of all time. His mixture of Renoir-esque poetic realism visuals against a back drop of dysfunctional American family's lives creates a wonderful tone that is at times funny and at other time heart shatteringly emotional. I think he went down hill with Darjeeling Limited because I started to get a bit bored of his style and it was a bit overly indulgent.
So as much as I was looking forward to Mr. Fox because it was based on one of my favourite child hood books and by one of my favourite contemporary directors I was dubious that he could potentially ruin it. Fortunately he did not. Anderson manages to hold his authorial presence over the film with everything you would expect from an Anderson film (lack of a real father figure, quirky dialogue, dysfunctional characters, use of 60's British rock music, meticulously organised mise-en-scene, comedy spliced against an emotional core etc.) it manages to hold true to Dahl's oratory and visual style. Anderson wrote the script with Noah Baumbach (who is also a hugely talented screen writer/director) at Roald Dahl's house. All of the furniture found within Mr. Fox's home are replicas of the furniture within Dahl's own house. This attention to the source material is what prevents the film from sinking into Anderson's often overly indulgent tendencies.
There is alot of humour in this film which like many of Anderson's old work makes you smile alot as opposed to laugh out loud. Emotionally this was not as serious as his other work I don't think. Often his other films have moved me to tears but this didn't really come close. This is understandable though because it is based on a light hearted book for children so the lack of a strong emotional core is forgivable.
My main issue with the film is the animation, which looks pretty average at best. On his previous film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Anderson got the hugely talented Henry Selick on board to do the stop motion animation and it looked amazing. Although at times the rustic nature of the animation is charming I cannot help but feel it would be more impressive if they had somebody more professional on board.
Having said this the sub-par animation compared to other stop motion films that have been released recently e.g. Coraline did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying this film. Hats off to Anderson for keeping his authorial presence resonant through the film without it being overbearing. It stays true to the source material and I am certain anybody of any age will enjoy this film. Check it out.
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