The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Why are Gilliam’s movies always washed out? It’s almost like there have been no advances in camera or film technology since the Monty Python movies of the 70s. I noticed this when re-watching The Fisher King not too long ago and noticed it again watching this flick. Here it’s particularly a shame, a film about the power of imagination could really benefit from the sort of ultra-sharp, eye-popping colors that are readily possible in modern moviemaking. Instead it looks like the film stock got splashed with muddy water then loaded directly into the projector.