The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

it's was pretty good. tom waits as the devil was a solid choice. sucked for the integrity of the film that Ledger couldn't finish it.

The way they worked in the other actors to replace Ledger was very clever, I felt.

You'll like it after you rewatch it 5 years from now. At least that is my experience with most Gilliam films.

I watched it and I thought it was good. Nothing extraordinary, but I was entertained.

*spoilers*

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didn't understand the actual deal made with the devil and how exactly the 5 souls or whatever were part of it

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There were multiple deals with the devil throughout the whole affair...

First, the Devil and Parnassus have a wager to see who can capture 12 souls first. Parnassus is peddling the merits of the imagination while the Devil appeals to people's vices. Parnassus wins and gains immortality, yet he believes that the Devil deceived him and let him win the wager intentionally. Immortality isn't as fun as Parnassus thought it might be.

He is immortal, yet Parnussus still ages. He is around 1000 years old when he sees a woman that he falls in love with. The Devil pops in to offer him youth again if Parnussus will give him the soul of any child born from them upon reaching the age of 16.

Flash forward to when the Devil wants to collect on this bargain. He then decides to have a new wager, first to gain five souls gets to have Parnassus's daughter.

It would appear that if the Devil claims a soul, that person is dead and I'd assume they are condemned to hell. If Parnassus claims a soul, that person is redeemed and free to continue on with their lives.