I don’t intend to have all my posts be about someone else’s work but the The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is one film I could not pass up telling you about. If you are a fan of film, you probably already know about this, for those who don’t troll around the Internet all day watching movie trailers, this one’s for you.

Directed by Terry Gilliam, the man who brought us Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and so on, brings us this new story about Dr. Parnassus and his traveling show, where he leads members of his audience through their imaginations. But Dr. Parnassus has a secret. 1,000 years ago he made a bet with the Devil for immortality and won, only to trade his immortality for youth to be with his one true love. But in order to make this trade he promises the Devil his first born child when he or she turns 16. It is now the present day and Dr. Parnassus’ daughter is almost 16 and he must find away to win back her freedom.

Much like The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam had some real bad breaks when it came to making this film. Tragedy hit the set with the death of Heath Ledger in 2008. Production was brought to a halt and the thought was that it was that the film was over. Gilliam, determined to make his film, ultimately decided to cast Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell to play Ledger’s character when he is inside the Imaginarium and leave Ledger to play the role when he is in reality. All three of the actors opted to donate their wages to Ledger’s daughter Matilda. Gilliam altered the part of the credits saying “A Terry Gilliam Film” to “A Film from Heath Ledger and Friends”. The production was beset by further bad luck when producer William Vince died one week after shooting was done, and while on post-production Gilliam himself was hit by a car and broke his back. Gilliam recalled: “So I thought, it was third time lucky – they just didn’t get me. They got the star, the producer and they were going for the director and they failed on the last one. Whoever they are…they were going for the trinity. That would have been a tidy end to the whole thing. But they didn’t kill me. I’m stuck here to tell the tale.”

Written by Terry Gilliam and Charles McKeown, and starring Christopher Plummer, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Tom Waits (just to name a few).

If you have forgotten how to use your imagination, allow this one to jump start it again for you. It will hit the US in a limited release on 12/25.