Salvaging Heath Ledger's Final Film
Terry Gilliam's Imaginative Genius Rescued Doctor Parnassus
Aug 27, 2009
Gilliam wrote the fantasy film with Charles McKeown, his collaborator on Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.
It follows Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), the immortal leader of a traveling theater troupe, who once made a pact with the Devil (Tom Waits) for the use of a magical mirror that opens onto parallel worlds. The Devil comes to collect on the deal and takes the doctor's daughter (Lily Cole). The troupe, including a dwarf (Verne Troyer), a sleight-of-hand expert (Andrew Garfield), and a mysterious newcomer named Tony (Heath Ledger), journeys beyond reality to save the young woman.
Gilliam described it as a "fun and humorous story about the consequences of our personal choices in life." Production began in London in December 2007.
Heath Ledger's Abbreviated Tour de Force
Ledger, who starred in Gilliam's 2005 pic The Brothers Grimm, improvised much of his dialogue on set. He was, Gilliam told Empire magazine, "somebody with the kind of energy I had when I was young." According to Plummer, "Heath was in very high spirits" when the London portion of shooting wrapped in mid-January 2008. "He was just enjoying himself tremendously."
However, due to a rigorous schedule of shooting outside on damp, cold nights, many cast and crew members caught colds. Ledger's developed into "the walking pneumonia" and was exacerbated by lack of sleep.
His death in New York City on 22 January 2008 halted production a third of the way through filming. When Gilliam received the news, he immediately thought, "The film's over, it's as simple as that."
A Brief History of Terry Gilliam's Failed Productions
The director already had ample experience with projects that had crashed and burned. Between the late 1980s and mid 90s Gilliam tried to launch productions of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen (twice), and even a sequel to his own film Time Bandits. All of them collapsed for various reasons.
Then in October 2000 came his most famous fiasco: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
Gilliam and co-writer Tony Grisoni's re-envisioning of Cervantes' sprawling novel included in its distinguished cast Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis, Miranda Richardson, Christopher Eccleston, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, and French actor Jean Rochefort as the Man of La Mancha. At a budget of $32 million, it was to have been one of Gilliam's most ambitious productions and one of the biggest European-made pictures ever.
But, in the first week of filming, a double-herniated disc debilitated Rochefort, and a flash flood damaged equipment and the Madrid shooting location. The film's insurers pulled the plug. The whole debacle can be witnessed in the Jeff Bridges-narrated 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha, produced by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe from footage they shot on set.
Gilliam and Depp wanted to revive the project for a long time, but the insurance company withheld the screenplay rights for years.
The Director Conjures Genuine Movie Magic
Gilliam would not let something similar happen to Doctor Parnassus; he determined to salvage the project and Ledger's final performance. Plummer told People magazine at the time, "Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people...."
Which is just what Gilliam did. To portray transformed versions of Tony as he travels through a dream realm, the director enlisted Depp along with Ledger-pals Colin Farrell and Jude Law, the latter of whom had once been considered for the role. The three actors donated their paychecks to Matilda, Ledger's daughter with Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek).
Filming resumed with the new cast members in Vancouver in March 2008. Editing was completed that November and the special effects were finished by the end of March 2009.
The Final Obstacle for Doctor Parnassus
The demons of Film Hell took one more swipe at Gilliam by putting a distribution deal in doubt, despite a publicity blitz and the acclaim for Ledger's Oscar-winning turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
The young Aussie had been a "key factor" in financing Doctor Parnassus (the $30 million budget was unusually high for an indie production). However, according to The Hollywood Reporter at the time, potential distributors worried about marketing it as a Heath Ledger film to mainstream audiences unaccustomed to Gilliam's increasingly-experimental style.
But, against all odds, the film was saved from going straight to DVD, and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May. It was so well received that the UK release date was pushed from June 6th to October 16th.
Terry Develops A Winning Streak
In the meantime, Gilliam finally regained the rights to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. The film will be totally reshot with a new lead, possibly Monty Python veteran Michael Palin.
But Depp, who still has "first dibs" on the other main role, is committed to two 2009 Disney films, and Gilliam doesn't plan to delay the start date of early 2010.
However, this is just another requisite hitch for a Terry Gilliam flick and is unlikely to hurt the two men's long friendship. After all, Depp came running when he was really needed and helped rescue a bright young star's last shining moment.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus opens in Canada on 16 October '09 and in the U.S. on Christmas Day.
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