Sundance Film Festival broadens its scope
December 27, 2009Between cost over-runs and final-cut fights, director Terry Gilliam, 69, is no stranger to difficult film productions. Still, nothing prepared him for the tragedy that marred the making of “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” Midway through production of the fantastical adventure, his star, Heath Ledger, died.
“I was too distraught to work out what to do. But everybody around me said, ‘You have to carry on,’ ” Gilliam says. Inspired by the film’s “magic mirror” conceit, Gilliam figured out a novel work-around.
“Thanks to Parnassus and his Imaginarium, we had this magical mirror where, once you go through it, things can be different,” Gilliam says. “First, we altered the part of Martin the drunk at the beginning of the film so that he was played by two actors. This established the principle that people can change on the other side of the mirror. Then I just started calling my friends and people who were close to Heath.”
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/25/PK4E1B5CML.DTL&type=movies