Imaginaerum (2012)

Imaginaerum: Directed by Stobe Harju, Mark Roper. With Francis X. McCarthy, Glenda Braganza, Helene Robbie, Ilkka Villi. A coma sends an old man into his childhood’s sinister fantasy world, where he must fight dementia and gain back his memories before it’s too late.

“Finnish Book of the Dead. Or perhaps of Dying. Or perhaps of Living? This film is imagined to life by the band Nightwish. Donu0026#39;t get me wrong – you can watch it even if you havenu0026#39;t heard of them at all. But it would be a bit like watching Dune without having read the books. If you are a Nightwish fan, this is a must see. Iu0026#39;m a fan myself, not die-hard, but still fan enough to have all their albums and having listened to them many times over. I loved seeing them in the film, I enjoyed seeing Tuomas, Marco and the rest very much. I used to cherish Tarja-era Nightwish and rejoice to hear Floor joining them, but I didnu0026#39;t appreciate Anette much and felt ashamed because of it. Now Iu0026#39;m happy to have shed my guilt and to appreciate Anette much more. But back to the film. Right away I have to draw a few parallels: The Velocity of Gary, The Book of Stars and Big Fish jumped to mind. Tim Burton has been rightly mentioned here already. This is a film to be contemplated and returned to and, as such, it is definitely not a kiddie movie. Iu0026#39;ve seen my fair share of fantasy flicks in my time and wasnu0026#39;t in the mood to add one more to the collection, but, as the story – or rather, the flashbacks of a fading mind – progresses, the fantasy becomes a visual framework to illustrate the story and the ideas behind it – and the story doesnu0026#39;t get beaten up and buried by special effects. Thatu0026#39;ll be the first, yeah? I wish Hollywood would learn this neat trick – to preserve the story, despite all the visual fireworks. Perhaps its the budget? If Hollywood would cut a few billions off the CGI department, maybe the movies would become better? Imaginaerum is beautiful as a whole: the special effects are stunning (unless youu0026#39;re a Transformers fan), the cast look like they really care about the story – which does become clearer towards the end – and itu0026#39;s all well carried by the soundscape (by Nightwish). I live and breathe science fiction and for me it is always about us, human beings (unless it is really badly written). Imaginaerum is – at least for me – about the human spirit, about our essence. It is about us striving to finish the last page of our story – even if everything around us – or we ourselves – is falling apart and fading into nothingness. u0026quot;As for me,u0026quot; said the little prince to himself, u0026quot;if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.u0026quot; ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince”