Swept Off My Feet

Oyyyeeeeee. Head ohh please stop spinning and swimming in swirls. PUHLLEEZE!

Getting in the car I wondered if I was really in any shape whatsoever to be driving a motorized vehicle across town. But what was I to do? I wanted. No I needed to get home to spill all it out, empty my head. Though something tells me my head will still be overflowing. So I drove home as quickly as I could though I knew I couldn't at my usual NASCAR/Indy/Formula racing style because I had to maintain some sort of control, even though in my head and my heart there was none.

Not often, though this is probably a good thing for folks such as I, does a movie sweep me away and out of the theatre. Especially if the theatre is the discount type cause ohh boy do those seats not provide any sort of incentive to melt into one's imagination. Let's just say my butt hurts every time I get up after sitting in 'em.

I finally saw Heath Ledger's final performance as an actor. "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" was more than I had anticipated, more than anything I ever could of imagined from the clips I'd seen on TV, the various interviews I had watched. I knew the basic premise of the flick; Dr. Parnassus makes deal w/ devil and thus has to turn daughter over when she reaches X-age and a stranger comes along who transforms their lives in unexpected ways.

But ohhh that is but not even the tip of the perverbial iceberg, maybe the fleck of snow at the tip of the iceberg before it ceases being a snowflake? The movie is, is...shit...it's the costumes, the actors, the camera angles, the symbolism, the lighting, the set design. And so much more and everything.

We meet Ledger's character, George/Tony, in a rather ominious or as Jane put it, "that's rather errie isn't it?" introduction. His character is dead or so it seems. He's hanging from a bridge and it's his shadow that is spotted by Anton, splendidly played by Andrew Garfield. I've never seen him before, that I'm aware of, but I'll be keeping my eyes on this kiddo cause he was AWESOME!

Watching Heath tonight I came to appreciate how much of a chameleon he had grown into as he could change his appearance without ever changing his clothing, hair, nothing. At one point, for just a moment, I saw a glimpse of that smile he made infamous as The Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight. I felt myself gasp and then smile at the beauty of the memory. The role seemed exhausting, a constant never-stop-never-slow-down and yet you knew he loved it.
Most of the time us artists are the last one's to know when that which we gleam happiness from is also what is hurting us and being able to know when to slow down gets eaten up by our desire for that happiness. I mean after all isn't the saying, "It's not work if you enjoy it?" But how do you learn that your only human and humans break down after awhile if we stop paying attention? I suppose there's also that saying, "I can sleep when I'm dead."

It saddens me when I think of the pathetic press this wonderful movie received, how Terry Gilliam's direction was treated with such disrespect. Hollywood still has such disdain for movies that don't follow a straight and predictable path, movies that aren't perfect or have perfectly designed characters.
The movie, received only a handful of nominations and won just two awards both for costume design. Seeing Heath wearing a tutu of sorts over pants was priceless! One of many scenes in which I think I filled the theatre up with my laughter. As we wandered thru Dr. Parnassus' imagination I felt myself floating amongst the lily pads as they flew through the air with Johnny Depp dancing on top. When a hot-air balloon looking suspiciously like Dr. Parnassus is shot down by a stupid little boy who thinks he's playing a video game I truly felt the air whooshing out of the balloon and felt my heart sink as the balloon sank. Tom Waits, as Mr. Nick/devil, was creepy and icky and everything you'd expect. I kept wanting to wash my hands whenever he was in a scene.

In a little over two hours I got to experience darn near every emotion I can think of and for that I wish to give a very big THANK YOU to Terry Gilliam and the rest of the cast and crew of "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." You gave this lady so much tonight and a much needed escape from her world and soo much to dream about and gush about. That is what a movie should do. I'll will definitely be buying the DVD.