View Full Version : Who's seen the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus?
Lleminawc
25-10-2009, 19:17
If you have you'll know that Dr P is a Tarot reader among other things, and that he uses a battered old deck that looks a bit like the Soprafino except it has lots of arcane symbols on the cards. It turns out that Heath Ledger's character seems to have some of these symbols branded on his forehead, which also appear on The Hanged Man in Dr P's deck. Did anyone recognise them?
Can't wait to see that movie! Have been looking forward to it for a long time. Thanks for that interesting heads up!
victoria.star
30-05-2010, 08:58
Hi!
Am watching it just now!! Lovely deck, getting out my Soprafino to compare and drool over...
I was wondering the same thing...about the deck and symbols etc...
Any one out there have any more info? Thanks.
Have a happy :) :) :)
Silver Crow
30-05-2010, 11:30
I'm not sure which deck it is but this is a pretty fascinating look into the entire story.
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1060415/pg1
I just love this movie and can't see it enough times, I see something new each time I watch it.
victoria.star
30-05-2010, 11:42
I'm not sure which deck it is but this is a pretty fascinating look into the entire story.
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1060415/pg1
I just love this movie and can't see it enough times, I see something new each time I watch it.
I enjoyed reading the article, Silver Crow.
The movie is very good--and eerily poignant knowing that Ledger died while filming it...
I enjoyed shuffling through the Ancient Italian while watching the film. Parnassus as the King Cups is interesting to think upon.
Here's a screen shot that shows the symbols on his forehead. They don't mean anything to me. http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/rg082008/rg1224683321503324/img_6.php
Toxicmage
05-06-2010, 19:53
Yes, I saw it and liked it very much! However, I think that a lot sort of went over my head or I didn't pick-up on.
Kinda like the Matrix movie..maybe the more you see it, the more you learn.
HearthCricket
10-06-2010, 12:39
We just watched this movie and I loved it! Just when you think you are starting to grasp it, you get lost, so it is definitely the kind you need to watch again and again. It gets deeper each time. So sad knowing this was Heath Ledger's last movie and that Johnny Depp had to fill in. Odd, too, when suddenly Ledger is back on stage and it flip flops. That alone was mind boggling. Yes, definitely a Soprafino/Ancient Italians styled deck with interesting symbols on it. Maybe I can get a photo shot of it the next time I watch it and freeze the screen. I can't wait to see what my own dreams come up with tonight after watching this!
HearthCricket
10-06-2010, 13:02
Here's a screen shot that shows the symbols on his forehead. They don't mean anything to me. http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/rg082008/rg1224683321503324/img_6.php
When looking straight on the first one looks familiar, but maybe because it is slightly similar to Uranus. The second reminds me of something Masonic.... The third looks like the symbol for Om.
eta~According to the creator of the movie the first is the symbol of Phi.
OMG, this was in the cinemas and I meant to see it but then stuff happened and I never got round to it! I've just seen the trailer and it looks amazing!
It's AWESOME - and I loved seeing the credits with Lo Scarabeo right in the middle of them ! :) (I watched to make SURE they'd got credit for the deck !)
Which was LS' Ancient Italian, as I recall.
HearthCricket
10-06-2010, 22:45
It's AWESOME - and I loved seeing the credits with Lo Scarabeo right in the middle of them ! :) (I watched to make SURE they'd got credit for the deck !)
Which was LS' Ancient Italian, as I recall.
It looked like it as it had none of those LS borders around it, but they did add some funky extra symbols in the artwork and I would love to know more about that! Bars or rectangular boxes with symbols inside them. What a journey that movie is! There is a lot of stuff on the internet about it. And how odd it was that Heath Ledger had played two "cards", the Joker and now, in this movie, the Hangman.
It looked like it as it had none of those LS borders around it, but they did add some funky extra symbols in the artwork and I would love to know more about that! Bars or rectangular boxes with symbols inside them.
Well - it had to have no LS borders. or it couldn't have held up as an ancient deck !
HearthCricket
10-06-2010, 23:46
I found a shot online with a closeup of their version of the Hangman. See all the symbols they added to it. Rather effective, IMO. I see some runes and astrological symbols, among others...
OOOOH.
I wonder who their tarot consultant was (the studio had one for a WolfMan movie) - maybe they'd know ?
Glitterbird
11-06-2010, 00:14
Darn it - I had it from netflix last week and didn't get to see it before someone sent it back.
Back on the list it goes.
I wonder who their tarot consultant was (the studio had one for a WolfMan movie) - maybe they'd know ?I see a new ambition forming in my career. Now that's my dream job...
HearthCricket
11-06-2010, 05:30
I see a new ambition forming in my career. Now that's my dream job...
How cool would that be? lol There is this deep part of me that wants to get another Ancient Italian (tarot, not person) and put them through the wringer, drier, you name it, to age the deck like that one. It looks as soft as a kid glove!
How cool would that be? lol There is this deep part of me that wants to get another Ancient Italian (tarot, not person) and put them through the wringer, drier, you name it, to age the deck like that one. It looks as soft as a kid glove!But I think with the lamination and stuff the ink of the pen wouldn't "grip". You'd need an unlaminated Soprafino.
If anyone knows of a pen that would write on the lamination of cards, let me know, I'd love to customise an Ancient Italian with spooky, meaningless & scarey symbols!
And your post made me wonder; what if one put one's Ancient Italian in the washing machine? How would it come out? Anyone try it (Not a hot wash)? Might be an interesting technique for ageing.
I'm thinking washing machine first, then spooky, scarey symbols afterwards...
Signed Le Fanu. Full time (not part time) Tarot Consultant
eta~According to the creator of the movie the first is the symbol of Phi.
Yes, it's phi, used frequently in mathematics to symbolize this or that, depending on the type of mathematics; also stands for "philosophy." I mean I don't understand what it means in the context of being drawn on the forehead of the hanged man, a traitor.
Glitterbird
11-06-2010, 06:58
And your post made me wonder; what if one put one's Ancient Italian in the washing machine? How would it come out? Anyone try it (Not a hot wash)? Might be an interesting technique for ageing.
First it frays the corners nicely, but it does have a tendancy to actually separate the card into layers so one card becomes 2. 1 front, 1 back. Not that this has ever happened to me *cough cough*
If anyone knows of a pen that would write on the lamination of cards, let me know, I'd love to customise an Ancient Italian with spooky, meaningless & scarey symbols!
Wouldn't a Sharpie work?
I really want to see this movie. RIP Heath Ledger :(
Ashtaroot
17-06-2010, 09:59
I saw it last weekend with my boys !!! They didn't get it and my head hurts
It was deep I felt like my mind was going all over the place ....
That article was great silvercrow it kinda categorize the chaos i felt in my mind
Guess I need to see it again.
aurarcana
05-12-2010, 09:01
Thanks to HearthCricket for leading me to this thread!
I'm late to the party, but saw it and absolutely LOVED it. My kind of movie. It was in and out of the theater so fast (sadly) that I missed it when it was out. It was explosive, energetic, romantic, mysterious and trippy.
I was trying to explain the meaning of the cards to my boyfriend when they came up. And I was shocked when I saw a deck used in this capacity, in a film. I didn't know that a deck was featured in it until then! Having familiarity with tarot broadens the meanings when Doctor Parnassus uses them for advice.
If any of you have Netflix streaming online, it's there for free right now :). We connect our media laptop (we have one just for steaming music) to our TV = much better than watching on a small screen. So, if you have Netflix, watch it!
Laura Borealis
05-12-2010, 10:19
I love the Imaginarium too. Though I will see anything by Terry Gilliam (I am one of the very few who think Tideland is his best work), and I'll see anything with Tom Waits in it as well. He was fantastic in Imaginarium. I didn't recognize the exact deck, though -- I don't know my historic decks as well as I should, apparently!
Silverlyn
02-04-2011, 05:21
LOVE this movie and was gonna suggest in the Tarot In Movies Thread about the cards in the movie! :)