Inkheart is a 2008 fantasy adventure film directed by Iain Softley, produced by Cornelia Funke, Dylan Cuva, Sarah Wang, Ute Leonhardt, Toby Emmerich, Mark Ordesky, Ileen Maisel and Andrew Licht, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, music composed by Javier Navarrete and starring Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Jim Broadbent, Andy Serkis, and Eliza Bennett. It is based on Cornelia Funke's 2003 novel of the same name.
Produced by New Line Cinema, the film was released theatrically on December 12, 2008, in the UK and January 23, 2009, in the US by Warner Bros. Pictures. Inkheart received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $62,450,361 on a $60 million budget.
Plot:
Parents Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Teresa "Resa" Folchart (Sienna Guillory) read the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" to their baby daughter Meggie, as a red velvet hood appears out of thin air. Twelve years later, Meggie (Eliza Bennett) visits an old book shop in Europe with her father, unaware that he is secretly looking for a copy of the book Inkheart. Shortly after Mo finds the book, Meggie encounters a horned marten outside the shop and it tries to bite her fingers. A man (Paul Bettany) suddenly appears from the shadows, claiming to be an old friend. Mo comes out of the shop, recognizing the man as Dustfinger, who quickly asks him to "read him back into the book". Mo flees with Meggie.
Mo takes Meggie to visit her great-aunt Elinor (Helen Mirren) in Italy. There he tells Meggie that nine years ago, while reading to her from Inkheart, he inadvertently brought Dustfinger out of the world of the book and into the world Mo and Meggie live in, through a gift he possessed from birth. Unfortunately, the book's villain, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), and one of his henchmen, Basta (Jamie Foreman), were also brought out of the book. Fleeing with his infant daughter, Mo realizes his wife Resa has been taken into the book. Dustfinger arrives with Basta, who captures the group, destroys Elinor's library and takes Inkheart. Mo, Meggie, and Elinor are taken to Capricorn's new castle in the "real" world.
During their imprisonment, Mo explains his gift to Meggie and Elinor, stating that when he reads a person or an object out of a book, someone from the real world is sent into it, hence his wife's disappearance. Capricorn forces Mo to use his gift, acquiring treasure from one of the stories in The Arabian Nights, and imprisoning Farid (Rafi Gavron), one of the 40 Thieves. Dustfinger, who was promised a return into the book, is betrayed by Capricorn. The group escapes using the tornado from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Elinor leaves to recover what is left of her library as the others head for Alassio, the town of Inkheart's author, Fenoglio (named in honor of Italian writer Beppe Fenoglio), who may have another copy. Dustfinger is initially afraid of learning his fate in the book, but eventually joins them. When they meet Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent), the author's ecstatic reaction to seeing his creation alive leads Dustfinger to learn he dies at the end of the book while trying to save his marten, Gwin. Angry, he berates Fenoglio before eventually telling Mo that Resa is trapped in the castle and has lost her voice.
Mo and Dustfinger take Fenoglio's car and Farid stows away in the trunk. At Fenoglio's house, Meggie begins reading out loud, bringing Toto from The Wizard of Oz. Basta bursts in with his men and takes the group to Capricorn. Elinor, having decided to stay, realizes something is amiss and pursues them. At the castle, Capricorn orders Meggie to bring a monster called the Shadow out of Inkheart and threatens to harm her mother if she does not comply. Mo sneaks into the castle. Dustfinger is captured, but escapes after Meggie informs him of Capricorn's intentions.
Mo attempts to free Meggie and the others, as Capricorn forces her to read the Shadow out of the book. Dustfinger returns to the castle with Farid and sets it on fire. The distraction allows Fenoglio to give Meggie a rewrite of part of Inkheart that he wrote to help Meggie stop Capricorn's plan. As Elinor arrives with the creatures Capricorn imprisoned, Meggie writes out the story on her arm. As she reads out her creation, Capricorn turns into ashes as the Shadow devours him, his henchmen vanish, the Shadow explodes, and all the read-out creatures back are returned where they belong, including Toto. In addition, she grants Fenoglio's wish to live in the world he created, while reuniting her and Mo with her mother and restoring her voice. Dustfinger is also safely read back into Inkheart, where he is reunited with his wife Roxanne. In the real world, Farid reveals he kept Gwin with him, thus allowing Dustfinger to avoid his own death. As Mo and his family leave with Farid, Meggie agrees to teach him how to read and Farid agrees to teach her how to use the dragon breath, the fire breathing ability of Dustfinger's which Farid learned.
Production:
Shortly after the novel was published, author Cornelia Funke sent a copy of Inkheart along with a note to Brendan Fraser, explaining that he was her inspiration for the character of Mo. It was this that motivated director Iain Softley and the casting department to consider Fraser first for the role in the film. Fraser told Softley that if it was determined that he was not right for the role, not to feel obligated to use him on the project. Softley was ultimately impressed with Fraser's performance and contracted him for the film. Public auditions were held for the role of Meggie Folchart[8] with the intention of casting an unknown actress, however the role eventually went to Eliza Bennett who had already worked extensively on television and film at the time. Funke, was quoted as saying that "we had our second screening (summer 2007), which went well, and I really loved the movie, but they are still changing things, especially at the end."[citation needed] Inkheart was filmed at Shepperton Studios near London, England and on location in Balestrino, Albenga, Alassio, Entracque and Laigueglia, Italy, in 2006 and 2007. The production also visited Hever Castle in Kent to shoot the exterior for Elinor's Tuscan villa setting.
Double Negative created the menacing animated character, The Shadow, along with other creatures and visual effects for the film. The finale of the film takes place within a ruined amphitheater nestled in the Italian mountains; this is the lair of Capricorn, one of the villains Mo has accidentally "read" into the real world. The visual effects work included the digital augmentation of the bluescreen set, the billowing, pyroclastic monster, The Shadow, the surreal winged monkeys with their raven black feathers and Capricorn's final transition.
Box Office:
As with the production of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the production progressed very slowly. The American release was originally set for Christmas 2007, but then was changed from its original release date of Christmas 2007 then towards March 19, 2008. Due to the writer's strike, the film was pushed back more and more, than opened December 12, 2008 in the UK and January 23, 2009 in the US.
The film grossed $2,110,000 during its opening day in 2,655 theatres. It opened at #7 at the U.S. box office with $7,725,000, with a worldwide gross of close to $13 million. It yielded just $1 million from its opening in the UK, ranking fourth, while coming in third at $1.8 million in Germany. It later came to make $5,781,992 in the UK, $10,112,691 in Germany, $1,222,364 in Australia, $1,484,027 in France, $3,289,477 in Italy, $1,815,500 in Taiwan, $2,951,290 in Spain, $2,665,476 in South Korea, $1,681,477 in Russia, $2,378,200 in Mexico, and $1,080,825 in Malaysia, plus $4,187,389 from smaller countries. Inkheart made $17,303,424 in the United States, and $45,146,937 internationally, making the final worldwide gross of the film to be $62,450,361. It made $8.3 million in US DVD sales during its first week.
My Review:
This is an unusual storyline. The movie takes you to a different world. There are thugs, culprits, yet there is no crime or cruelty. No negative element is exaggerated in the movie. The imagination, fantasy, pure love, characters, good emotions and a happy ending drew me completely. A magical film that brings fantasy and love to life. One of the most magical and breath taking films I have ever seen. Mo and Meggie have the gift and set things well past your wildest imagination. Unbelievable and unimaginable discoveries are made. Anyone who likes fantasy, this will become your favourite movie.
The characters had kind of this happily ever after feel to it in the end. If you're looking for a movie which will make you smile this is a good one. I personally like a little more of the unexpected endings, it became somewhat predictable toward the end but that's okay... the acting in it was pretty good, especially Meggie's character.
It's a good fantasy movie, I enjoyed it. Done up in a classical Disney sort of way. The best part of it was probably the response of the author in the story (Jim Broadbent's character) as he really didn't care about what his characters did, instead he was awed by what they did, good, bad, or otherwise except toward the end when the Disney type elements were full blown. Also, clearly there were times when the writing and reading could have fixed the whole situation prior to the ending.
I'd say don't think too much during the movie and you'll enjoy it more; I give it a strong 6/10.
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