ONE LAST TIME ON THE BIG SCREEN - AS HEATH LEDGER LEFT THIS MORTAL LIFE TO BE IMMORTAL

Japanese poster of
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Tribute to Heath Ledger

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

2009

This is the final new film that we will get to see Heath in. And he only finished part of the shoot before the tragic night he passed away while trying to get some sleep. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell share the part of Tony with Heath, which was only done after Heath passed away.

This is the very first film of Heath's that I will ever see on the big screen, as I discovered his work months after he left this mortal life to be immortal.

Below I post two lovely fans' videos paying tribute to Heath and this film.

The film opened in New York City, Los Angeles, Canada and Scandinavia Christmas Day and will open in selected cities nationwide January 8th. It is not showing in the big cinema complexes. But a lot of lesser movies are. What a shame we can't have this film more accessible to the masses.

I have to drive 45 miles to see it in Providence, Rhode Island at the Avon Cinema

But I am grateful that I can see it in my state.

It is already difficult to imagine sitting in the dark theatre for the first time to see Heath in his final performance. So many things will be going through my mind...the story of the film, the story of Heath's emotions while shooting the movie, the sadness that comes from the bond I have developed through watching him in many of his movies on dvd since learning of his talent after he died. And all the wonderful youtube videos of his interviews and premieres.

So long Heath on the big screen. The world of creativity and heart will miss you.



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Uploaded by catiamancini

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Heath Ledger Wizard
Uploaded by jopicca

There is a wonderful website set up to support the release of this film wider than Sony Classics Pictures has plans to do. There is endless information there www.imaginariumofdrparnassus.com

Here is one of many reviews found there:

Source: SciFi Wire

Does Dr. Parnassus honor the late Heath Ledger?

I got to the screening of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus early and had time to grab a drink at a nearby bar. Three, actually. Scotches. I think that was the best possible way to watch Terry Gilliam’s trippy movie. Regardless of alcohol, I have no idea what it was about, but it was fascinating and wonderful.

A traveling street show performs for the locals on a set that evokes Gilliam’s animation style. It’s already a weird contraption, this full-scale sort of pop-up book of a stage, only it’s even weirder to see it out on the city streets. This stage sucks viewers into the mirror, where they go into a CGI world of imagination. Whether CG or real, it’s all magical and all Gilliam.

Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer) and his troupe rescue Tony (Heath Ledger), who is hanging from a bridge, and add him to their act. It seems Dr. P owes a mysterious Mr. Nick (Tom Waits) five souls, which he collects through his Imaginarium show. Now Tony’s taking patrons through the mirror, and on the other side he appears as different actors (Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell).

The idea of different actors taking over Ledger’s role is the least weird part of all this. If there’s a fantasy world, then of course he can appear as a different person in there. It is a seamless transition once Tony steps into the Imaginarium. None of this makes sense anyway, so just go with it. Really, who wouldn’t want to see Depp, Law and Farrell play Heath Ledger? Frankly, I’m impressed that they completed all of Ledger’s “real world” scenes, so at least he’s always Heath there. I didn’t know how much he’d completed before his passing.

Don’t try to understand it. Just look at it. The visuals are so busy you’ll have to pay attention to absorb everything. I have no idea who Dr. Parnassus is or what he wants. I’m sure it’s in there, but only in that buried-metaphor kind of way. What is this relationship with the strange guy they saved from hanging? Who cares? The images inside the Imaginarium are so bizarre it’s just worth experiencing. You’ve got cops dancing on a large tongue, 2-D cutouts spinning and interacting and gritty landscapes cluttered with debris.

Ledger is captivating when he appears. He gives another full-bodied, physical performance. Tony is an unknown, so there’s no baggage or expectations. His actions, his movements, that’s all what Ledger decided he’d be. His successors do a fine job carrying it. You do get to see a whole performance, and that’s worth a lot for the film, too.

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The way Terry Gilliam describes his film:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present-day. It tells the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a traveling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom.

Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Doctor Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. An inveterate gambler, thousands of years ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr. Nick, in which he won immortality. Centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr. Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his daughter reached her 16th birthday, she would become the property of Mr Nick.

Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr. Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr. Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr. Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win.

Directed by Terry Gilliam
122 Minutes
Rated PG-13

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Also, there is a lovely forum to meet other Heathens: Heath Ledger Planet

Light a Candle for Heath

BONDS THAT TRANSCEND ARE SPIRITUAL ONES

I love my son. I miss my son. This is for him…
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUoEil40qZA

I Will Always Love You

My son was adopted when he was eleven years old. The connection that I have always felt for him is innate and undeniable. I want to be in his life. I am here. I hope that one day he will find me someone that is vital to him. I carry his heart in my heart.

Adopted children all have a journey that is a reaction to having been released or abandoned by their birth parents, especially their mothers.

I never wanted children. In sixth grade I told my mother this. It was a response to what I read in the Weekly Reader, a children’s type of newspaper. The world just didn’t seem a fair place to bring a child into. My son entered my life. Then he entered my heart. I answered LIFE by making the move to be his mother. It hurts so much to be held at a distance. But apparently I am where I am to be. I have done the best that I could, all things considered. I have no regrets.


Children
By Khalil Gibran

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, "Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.


Love
By Khalil Gibran

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.
And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.
When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
Gibran's Works:
http://leb.net/~mira/works/prophet/prophet.html

Khalil Gibran (1883-1895) was born on January 6, 1883, to the Maronite family of Gibran in Bsharri, a mountainous area in Northern Lebanon. Bio: http://leb.net/~mira/bio/1.html