Line #20 YMMV/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus


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2	* CompleteMonster: [[WouldHurtAChild Anthony "Tony" Shepard]] is a [[BitchInSheepsClothing charming man]] rescued from a mob lynching by Doctor Parnassus's troupe. Claiming to suffer from memory loss, Tony keeps his past as an abusive head of an international children's charity hidden from the troupe while swindling their clients. Outed in the mind-reading Imaginarium for his misdeeds, Tony is also revealed to have used the children he "rescued" for a massive [[OrganTheft organ trafficking]] operation, his crimes so disgusting [[{{Satan}} Mr. Nick]] himself [[EvenEvilHasStandards insists on claiming his soul for Hell]].
3	* EvilIsCool: Mr. Nick, played by the incomparable Music/TomWaits, [[spoiler: and arguably [[EvilAllAlong Tony.]] ]]
4	* HarsherInHindsight:
5	** Also, given the amount of grief the tabloids gave Heath Ledger, before and after his death, this was a humdinger:
6	--->"Don't believe everything you read. Especially ''The Mirror''."
7	* HilariousInHindsight: The future Spider-Man struggles to swing under a bridge to rescue somebody.
8	** In a dark fashion, the tarot card that predicts our heroes finding Heath Ledger is a man hanging from one leg, [[Film/TheDarkKnight just as the Joker ended up.]]
9	** In this film, Creator/ColinFarrell and Creator/JohnnyDepp play the same character, which they would do again in [[spoiler:''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'']]. And then when Creator/JudeLaw was cast as the young Dumbledore for the sequel, it's like the three actors who took over the late Heath Ledger's role are now in the same film.
10	* MagnificentBastard: [[LouisCypher Mr. Nick]], the [[{{Satan}} Devil]] himself, is Parnassus' [[TheCharmer charming]] and [[AffablyEvil affable]] nemesis. Hundreds of years prior, Nick made a deal with Parnassus, stating that in exchange for immortality, any child of the latter would belong to Nick when they turned 16. Three days before Parnassus' daughter Valentina turns 16, Nick appears to make a new deal stating that Parnassus can keep his daughter if he can use his Imaginarium to win over five souls before Nick can. When Parnassus successfully wins over four souls, Nick claims the souls of four Russian Gangsters who enter Parnassus' Imaginarium and traps them. After Valentina offers herself up as the fifth soul, Nick makes yet another deal with Parnassus: Valentina's Soul in exchange for the wicked Tony Shepard's, partially out of disappointment with an easy victory and partially out of disgust towards Tony [[EvenEvilHasStandards being an organ-harvesting child trafficker]]. Nick keeps his word after Parnassus tricks Tony into hanging himself, freeing Valentina's soul, though keeping Parnassus in the dark regarding her location.
11	* MisaimedFandom: The song "Children of the World" was Creator/TerryGilliam's stab and parody at Music/MichaelJackson's song "We Are the World", but eventually won an award to Gilliam's chagrin.
12	* MoralEventHorizon: Throughout the film, Tony comes across as likeable, despite hints at a dark and shady past that likely involved defrauding a charity. [[spoiler: After it is revealed that Tony's charity harvested the organs of Third World children and sold them off to rich Western buyers, his facade cracks and shows just how nasty he really is.]]
13	* NightmareFuel: Music/TomWaits' computer-animated face on a giant computer-animated cobra. Pleasant dreams.
14	* NoYay: Despite sixteen being the age of consent in the UK, some viewers might be a tad uncomfortable with the much older Tony wooing [[spoiler:and eventually sleeping with]] a teenage girl. True, Creator/LilyCole was 21 at the time of filming, but the in-context cradle robbery is still intact.
15	* RetroactiveRecognition: [[Creator/AndrewGarfield Anton]] is [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan Spider-Man]]! And [[Creator/GwendolineChristie one of the shoppers]] is [[Series/GameOfThrones Brienne of Tarth]] and [[Franchise/StarWars Captain Phasma]]! Additionally, one of the paramedics who looks at Parnassus near the end is [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Big Mac]].
16	* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Lily Cole actually plays Valentina very convincingly. Usually models aren't known for being actors, but she's a model who can act.
17	* SoOKItsAverage: A rare positive example - several critics praised Creator/TerryGilliam for being able to salvage a good, if not great, movie despite Creator/HeathLedger's death, a situation where most directors would have given up... which in itself makes the movie a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Creator/TerryGilliam.
18	* {{Squick}}: The relationship between Valentina and Tony has this effect on some viewers; see NoYay above.
19	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The contest to gain five souls could have been drawn out, with more time and focus given more focus to winning each of the five, and developing different methods of winning people's heart's desires, for good or for bad. However, [[spoiler:most of the souls are won within fifteen minutes (with a good part of them taking place offscreen), with each side winning a set of four largely identical characters in the same scene.]]
20	* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Myth/{{Faust}} on acid.

Context YMMV / TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus