AFI FEST Los Angeles International Film Festival 2009

Set in the present day, Gilliam’s fantastical morality tale tells the story of a travelling show where the audience gets an irresistible opportunity to travel into their imaginations, guided by the extraordinary Doctor Parnassus (Christopher Plummer). An inveterate gambler, Parnassus made a bet thousands of years ago with the devil (Tom Waits), in which he won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Parnassus made another deal, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his daughter reached her 16th birthday, she would become the property of the devil. As Valentina (Lily Cole) rapidly approaches this milestone, the desperate Parnassus talks the devil into one final wager. Encountering a series of wild, comical and compelling characters (including the trickster Tony, played by Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell), Parnassus fights to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles, hoping to undo the mistakes of his past once and for all.