Inkheart (2008)

Director:

Iain Softley

Writers (WGA):

David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay)
Cornelia Funke (novel)

Release Date:

23 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Every story ever written is just waiting to become real.

Plot:

A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Villain | Escape | Reading | Young Girl

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 12	10:00 PM	MAX
Sun. Dec. 13	10:10 AM	MAX

Cast

Brendan Fraser	...	Mo 'Silvertongue' Folchart
Sienna Guillory	...	Resa
Eliza Bennett	...	Meggie Folchart (as Eliza Hope Bennett)
Richard Strange	...	Antiquarian Bookshop Owner
Paul Bettany	...	Dustfinger
Helen Mirren	...	Elinor Loredan
Matt King	...	Cockerell
Steve Speirs	...	Flatnose
Jamie Foreman	...	Basta
Stephen Graham	...	Fulvio
Mirabel O'Keefe	...	Young Meggie
Andy Serkis	...	Capricorn
John Thomson	...	Darius
Lesley Sharp	...	Mortola
Tereza Srbova	...	Rapunzel

Also Known As:

Ink Heart (USA) (alternative spelling)
Tintenherz (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG for fantasy adventure action, some scary moments and brief language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #43606) | Ireland:12A | Germany:12 | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Netherlands:9 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | South Africa:10V | Sweden:11 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Mexico:A | Iceland:10 | Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte

Trivia:

Before executive producer Mark Ordesky secured the rights of the Inkworld trilogy for New Line, Cornelia Funke was hesitating between him, David Heyman (producer of the Harry Potter movies and I Am Legend (2007)), Lorenzo di Bonaventura (producer of Transformers (2007) and Stardust (2007)) and Deborah Forte (producer of The Golden Compass (2007) and Tuck Everlasting (2002)), with Ordesky and Heyman being the main contenders. As a result of her constant hesitation and indecision, Ordesky gave Funke the nickname Cornelia Flakey.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Volkswagen Campervan that is used near the beginning of the film has a Zürich number plate, yet the cantonal coat of arms to the right of the number plate is that of the canton of Ticino (red and blue stripe). This is incorrect: The coat of arms should have been a white-blue stripe, which is the coat of arms of Zürich Canton and would correspond correctly to the number plate.

Quotes:

Fenoglio: This must be what it feels like to give birth!

You are not my God … Inkheart

I must say that I am always pleasantly surprised to watch a film without expectations, or the tiniest shred of knowledge, and be completely immersed in its world. With the new fantasy adventure film Inkheart, I experienced just that. Iain Softley's cinematic adaptation of the best-selling novel by Cornelia Funke is a fun and endearing trip. I liken the story to the Neverending Story only inverted. Rather than a boy reading a book and transporting himself into it, the characters here read the book and bring both the protagonists and antagonists to them. There is of course one caveat, for whatever comes through to Earth, something must go into the book to replace it. Said replacement being our lead's wife shows that there will be a fight for her return and the banishment of those brought over, back to the written word.

A very short prologue-type moment helps orient the audience with the magic that Inkheart brings. We learn that Brendan Fraser's Mortimer Folchart is a "Silvertongue", or person who reads the written word and brings it to reality. Unknown to him until he starts reading a story to his daughter, (my one gripe is that he never found out earlier … with the horrible things he lets in later, you'd have to think something more than Red Riding Hood's cape would have come through in his past), the danger of his power isn't felt completely until two villains and a street performer from this obscure novel arrive, sending his wife Resa, (Sienna Guillory in a role I wish would have let us see more of her), into the abyss, trapped. The real story at hand begins nine years after with Folchart and his daughter who doesn't know about that past event and just believes her mother left them. Supposedly taught in boarding schools on the go—why else would she have that accent—young Meggie, played by Eliza Bennett, is an intelligent girl who follows her book repairing father as he searches for a copy of the tale that took his love away. It takes many years, but finally the copy is found; yet with it comes the rediscovery of them by that trapped street performer, Dustfinger, and the realization that Capricorn, the book's main villain, wants Folchart captured to find him power and wealth by reading aloud.

What I really enjoyed about the film is that the retrieval of Resa is not the only thing it has going for it. Sure Folchart's motivations are for that alone, but you also have the needs of those people that replaced her. Dustfinger, the ever-brilliant Paul Bettany who owns each and every scene he has here, is just a corrupted man by necessity, not a true villain, only wanting to get back to the family he left behind. This role is the most fleshed out and tragic, trying desperately to get away from the reputation that precedes him from those who've read the story yet unable to break free from the selfish coward he was written as. However, nine years on Earth has changed him; his love and need for his wife has made him into something more than a thief who wields fire and as he says to the author of Inkheart, a fun Jim Broadbent, he controls his own fate. Just the fact that he is out of the book proves that the words written are not the only truth; he can overcome whatever end awaits him on the closing pages of the novel.

But he isn't the only side character needing something. The other is Capricorn, a vile man looking to take over Earth as his own. Brought to life by Andy Serkis, the role exudes slime and nefarious doings, showing the talent of this actor most known for playing computer generated characters in Peter Jackson epics. Capricorn is a villain to the end and his flip remarks and lack of compassion make for some laughs as well as a worthy opponent to Fraser's manly man hero as he is a professional now at playing. Fraser is probably the weakest link of the film, but he does the part well and holds together those around him as the common connecting factor.

Actually, everything really does end up being pretty well done across the board. It's a fun story that may be predictable, but the characters like Dustfinger are so well formed that you find yourself needing to see how their arcs end up. Even the special effects are pretty to look at, from the wispy clouds as fictional people come to our world to the smoke monster Shadow that arrives later on. And I loved seeing some of literature's best "creatures" in the flesh, held captive at Capricorn's castle. Really, besides some shoddy bluescreen work of Helen Mirren on a unicorn, there is very little to fault in those terms. Heck, the movie even had a fantastic little inside joke for cinema/Hollywood fans with a glimpse at Dustfinger's wife left alone back home. Maybe I shouldn't have laughed when her face appeared on screen, but it was a cute surprise.

So, whether the film stays true to the novel, I can't say. All I can relate to filmgoers is that as a fan of family-friendly fantasy films, Inkheart certainly surprised me with its likability and warmth. Maybe not as successful as the classics, Princess Bride, or even 2007's Stardust, Softley still delivers one worth a look. And while Bettany and Serkis may steal the show, deservingly so, it's always nice to watch Brendan Fraser in a part that doesn't scream paycheck. It appears to be too few and far between lately, so I do sincerely hope this one becomes a success at the box office.