Film Poster
Imaginaerum, marketed as Imaginaerum by Nightwish, is a 2012 Finnish-Canadian musical fantasy film directed by Stobe Harju in his film directorial debut. Harju previously directed the music video for The Islander, a song off the 2007 album Dark Passion Play. Tuomas Holopainen and Harju co-wrote the film, with Holopainen composing the music.
Produced alongside the album of the same name, Imaginaerum saw it's world premiere on November 10th, 2012 after the band's Helsinki show at the Hartwall Arena during the Imaginaerum World Tour. It was officially released nearly two weeks later on November 23rd. It remains the only feature-length film where Nightwish was involved in it's production.
Plot[]
Spoilers ahead
Thomas Whitman, a 75-year old retired musician, has lapsed into a coma after years of suffering from multi-infarct dementia. As Gem, his estranged daughter, ponders on signing a do-not-resuscitate order, his mind drifts into a fantasy world where he could relive his days as a ten-year-old orphan. After meeting a young girl named Ann, he soon befriends a snowman named Mr. White, revealed to be the same snowman he’d built outside the orphanage at the beginning of the film.
Mr. White then takes Tom out of the orphanage on a flight, where he sees the airplane of his father, Theodore. During a storm, however, Tom loses his grip and falls to a blackened, desolate landscape bordered by a derelict rollercoaster, representing his remaining memories. A nearby mechanic complains of the coaster falling to pieces, noting how futile it was to upkeep the coaster, with him representing Tom’s real-world doctor.
Tom encounters a 73-year old Ann, the latter of whom warns him of Mr. White’s untrustworthiness. The mechanic consults with a younger version of Gem over the status of the coaster, with her saying that it should be left to fall apart, coinciding with her real-world agreement to sign the order.
Tom soon finds himself in an abandoned urban landscape, where Mr. White chases him into a nightclub after a confrontation. He starts up a phonograph, and it starts to play “Slow, Love, Slow.” Simultaneously, he sees himself and his bandmates in their 30’s playing the song. The elderly Ann appears before him for a second time, warning him that Mr. White is the primary culprit for him losing his memories.
Continuing through his memories, Tom has a brief encounter with Theodore before being jumped by Mr. White and forcibly dragged to a freak-show circus, where he is continually surrounded and tormented by clown-like figures as the band plays “Scaretale” in the background. Gem, aged to present-day, appears alongside a bedridden Tom, also in his present age, and an unnamed assistant. The two tease the younger Tom by making disparaging comments and sawing off the top of the older Tom’s head, making papers they pull out of the head disappear.
In the real world, Gem encounters Ann in Tom’s residence and argues with her about Tom and how he supposedly didn’t care about her. Back in the dream world, the circus fades and Tom goes back to the same area he was in prior. There, he simultaneously witnesses Theodore committing suicide and a middle-aged version of himself smashing a globe containing a red-robed, dancing woman that Gem had brought to him. As she languishes over the smashed globe, she and Tom chase each other, aging to their present selves as they go along.
Tom, now bedridden in a field, questions his surroundings as an army of French-uniformed tin soldiers march around him. The soldiers carry Tom to a giant old safe representing his remaining memories. In the real world, Gem continues to bicker with Ann as the latter opens a safe containing various pieces of paper with scattered poetry, which Gem soon deduces to be a puzzle to be put together. Ann tells Gem of Theodore’s suicide and reminds her that Tom has pushed her away to avoid her sharing his tragic past.
Tom climbs into the safe as it closes and enders a landscape which surface is filled with his scattered writing. He encounters a melting, writhing Mr. White as the snowman tries to redeem himself. He tries to add to his writing as it peels away. With a rollercoaster appearing below him, Tom rides it as Mr. White flies after him, revealing himself to be an amalgamation of what Tom remembers of his father. He decides to let go of him, losing those last memories of him as he falls from the coaster and awakens back at the orphanage, still at his present age. He gives the clock back to the snowman, thanking him for the ride.
Gem and Ann, experiencing a power outage, then go to see Tom in the hospital as he wakes up from his coma just long enough to reconcile with Gem, before ultimately passing away. The film ends with Gem visiting his estate to reminisce on the positive moments she experienced with Tom, with a poetic monologue revealing the reasoning behind Gem’s name (this being the chords G and E Minor).
Cast[]
| Cast Member | Role(s) |
| Marianne Farley | Gem Whitman (age 35) |
| Quinn Lord | Thomas Whitman (age 10) |
| Francis-Xavier McCarthy | Thomas Whitman (age 75) |
| Ilkka Villi | Theodore Whitman and The Snowman (voice) |
| Johanna Noyes | Ann (age 73) |
| Keyanna Fielding | Gem Whitman (age 7) |
| Stephane Demers | Twisted Tin Soldier |
| Ron Lee | Dr. Jansson |
| Hélène Robitaille | Arabesque |
| Victoria Anne Jung | Ann (age 8) |
| Elias Toufexis | Mr. White (voice) |
| Madison McAleer | Orphan Girl |
| Glenda Braganza | Tom's Nurse |
| Tuomas Holopainen | Thomas Whitman (age 34/age 47) |
| Anette Olzon | Ann (age 32) |
| Marco Hietala | Markus (age 35) |
| Emppu Vuorinen | Emil (age 32) |
| Jukka Nevalainen | Jack (age 34) |
| Troy Donockley | Magician (Gem's Assistant) |
Links[]
Imaginaerum on IMDB