Inkheart (film): Difference between revisions
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==Sequel== |
==Sequel== |
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According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the sequel movie ''Inkspell'' has already been announced.<ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/449002/Inkspell/overview]</ref> |
According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', the sequel movie ''Inkspell'' has already been announced.<ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/449002/Inkspell/overview]</ref> |
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==Cartoon== |
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Before the film was released a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon [[Scaredy Cat]] was play before the flim. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 18:14, 11 July 2009
| Inkheart | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Iain Softley |
| Written by | David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay) Cornelia Funke (novel) Gary David Goldberg |
| Produced by | Cornelia Funke Ileen Maisel Dylan Cuva |
| Starring | Brendan Fraser Eliza Bennett Paul Bettany Helen Mirren Andy Serkis Jim Broadbent |
| Music by | Javier Navarrete |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release dates | Germany December 11, 2008 United Kingdom December 12, 2008 United States January 23, 2009 |
Running time | 106 min. |
| Countries | United States Germany United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $60,000,000 |
| Box office | $57,975,228 (April 9th) |
Inkheart is a 2008 fantasy film, directed by Iain Softley and stars Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and Jim Broadbent. It is based on the novel with the same name by Cornelia Funke. The film was first slated for release on 19 March 2008, but had been pushed back to 12 December 2008 in the UK and 23 January 2009 in the US, partially because of New Line's marketing worries in connection with the now-concluded 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.
Plot
Mortimer "Mo" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) and his 13-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), share a passion for books. What they also share is an extraordinary gift for bringing characters from books to life when they read aloud. But there is a danger: when a character is brought to life from a book, a real person disappears into its pages. This happened several years ago to Meggie's mother, Resa (Sienna Guillory). On one of their trips to a secondhand book shop, Mo hears voices he hasn't heard for years, and when he locates the book they're coming from, it sends a shiver up his spine. It's Inkheart, a book filled with illustrations of medieval castles and strange creatures—a book he's been searching for since Meggie was three years old, when Resa, vanished into its mystical world.
A character he released from the book, Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), with his pet marten Gwin follows him and, knowing Mo has the book, asks him to read him back into it. When Mo refuses, he tries to force him, but Mo takes Meggie and goes to Italy, where his aunt, Elinor Loredan (Helen Mirren) lives. They talk for a bit, and Elinor mentions that she thinks Resa abandoned them, angering Meggie. She reconciles herself in Meggie's eyes a little when she allows her to read in her library, which is full of numerous old and valuable books.
Dustfinger follows Mo, however, and betrays him to Basta, a servant of Capricorn (Andy Serkis), the evil villain of Inkheart, who takes them all to his castle, where he forces Mo to read aloud treasures from a book by threatening Elinor and Meggie's lives, as their own reader, Darius (John Thompson), stutters when he reads and causes characters (such as Rapunzel) to only be half in the real world, while the other half is in the book, and they have writing on their bodies. Mo does so, and accidentally reads out Farid (Rafi Gavron), a boy from Arabian Nights. Mo, Meggie and Elinor are sent to the dungeon. While walking to their cell, they encounter all the characters Darius has brought into the world from other books, including: the ticking Crocodile from Peter Pan, the Hound of Baskervilles, the Minotaur from the greek myth Theseus and the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz. Dustfinger is betrayed by Capricorn, who had promised that he would be read back into Inkheart, burning the book. In retaliation, Dustfinger helps Mo and Meggie escape after finding out that Resa (who is a captive of Capricorn's) is really Mo's wife. Resa was brought back by Darius. However, due to his stutter, Resa has lost her voice. Dustfinger, Mo, Meggie, Elinor and Farid escape the dungeon when Mo reads from The Wizard of Oz, summoning the infamous cyclone. Resa also manages to escape, but unofortunately is recaptured by Basta. She is sent to the dungeon to await execution.
In search of a new copy of the book, Meggie comes up with an idea for finding the author knowing he must have a copy. Elinor decides to leave after finding out where the author lives. Mo, Dustfinger, Meggie and Farid travel to the south of Italy, where they meet Fenoglio (Jim Broadbent), the author of Inkheart, who still has the original manuscript. Dustfinger stays and teaches Farid to juggle fire, as he is afraid to learn how his story ends. Unfortunately, Fenoglio, wanting to meet his creation, goes to watch his fire act and meets him, telling that he dies trying to save Gwin. Dustfinger is crushed, but still wants to go to the Inkworld, claiming that Fenoglio is not his god and has no control over his destiny. Mo of course wants to read Resa out, but Dustfinger confesses that she is in Capricorn's castle, and makes him promise to read him back in if he helps her escape, to which Mo agrees. He leaves Meggie behind, and Farid sneaks off with them in the trunk of Fenoglio's car. About to board her train back home, Elinor has a change of heart and decides to return and help Mo and Meggie.
Mo's plan to use the book to find and rescue Resa is thwarted when Capricorn kidnaps Meggie and, discovering she has inherited her father's gift, demands that she bring his most powerful ally to life— the Shadow, threatening Resa's life if she doesn't. Elinor reaches Fenoglio's home and finds evidence that Meggie and Fenoglio have been captured by Capricorn's henchmen. Elinor sets off to Capricorn's castle. Determined to rescue his daughter and send the fictional characters back where they belong, Mo, Dustfinger and Farid invade Capricorn's castle. Fenoglio, who has been captured with Meggie, rewrites an ending involving the death of Capricorn and the Shadow. Elinor arrives and breaks into the dungeon. She convinces Darius to switch sides and help her instead. Elinor and Darius set all the prisoners free and unleash them upon Capricorn and his men. Gwin gives Meggie Fenoglio's new ending. However, while reading the new ending, which is slowly destroying Capricorn, the evil witch, Magpie, snatches it from Meggie and destroys it. Capricorn regains control of the shadow and orders it to consume Resa and Fenoglio. Mo distracts the Shadow. While distracting the Shadow, Mo throws a pen to Meggie and tells her to make up her own ending. Meggie begins to write on her forearm the new ending to "Inkheart". Meggie reads the new ending off her arm, turning Capricorn, the Shadow, Magpie and all of Capricorn's henchmen to dust, and returning everyone to their stories. She also, restores her mother's voice and grants the wish of Fenoglio, to be sent to the world in which he created.
Dustfinger just misses his chance of going back, as he and Farid are busy setting the castle on fire. Farid, having stolen Inkheart back, convinces Dustfinger to let him come along as they search for a new writer to read him back in, as he believes Mo will not risk Resa's life again. However, Mo comes alone to fulfill his promise, and reads Dustfinger back in. Farid reveals that he further stole Mo's wallet with a picture of Meggie, whom he likes, and that he kept Gwin, as the marten causes Dustfinger's death. Resa, Meggie and Elinor catch up, and Mo invites Farid to live with them. He accepts, and Meggie begins to teach him to read. Meanwhile, in the Inkworld, Dustfinger reunites with his wife, Roxane (Jennifer Connelly).
Cast
- Brendan Fraser as Mortimer Folchart
- Eliza Bennett as Meggie Folchart
- Paul Bettany as Dustfinger
- Andy Serkis as Capricorn
- Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio
- Helen Mirren as Elinor Loredan
- Rafi Gavron as Farid
- Sienna Guillory as Teresa "Resa" Folchart
- Lesley Sharp as Mortola
- Jamie Foreman as Basta
- Matt King as Cockerell
- John Thomson as Darius
- Jennifer Connelly as Roxane
- Marnix Van Den Broeke as The Shadow
- Steve Speirs as Flatnose
- Jessie Cave as Nymph, an original character created for the film.
- Adam Bond as Prince Charming, an original character created for the film.
- Tereza Srbova as Rapunzel, an original character created for the film.
Production
The author of the book on which the film was based, Cornelia 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]
As with the production of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,[citation needed] the production progressed very slowly. The American release was originally slated for Christmas 2007, but then was changed to 19 March 2008. In addition, due to the writer's strike, the film was further pushed back and opened 23 January 2009.
Inkheart was filmed at Shepperton Studios near London, England and on location in 2006 and 2007.
Visual effects
The company Double Negative was approached to create the menacing animated character, The Shadow, along with other creatures and visual effects for the film. Working closely with the production's VFX Supervisor, Angus Bickerton, Double Negative's team were led by VFX Supervisors Paul Riddle and Ryan Cook, and VFX Producer Fay McConkey.
The finale of the film takes place within a ruined amphitheatre 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, pryoclastic monster, The Shadow, the surreal winged monkeys with their raven black feathers and Carpricorn's final transition.
Reception
Inkheart has received generally mixed reviews from critics. It has so far received a 39% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 107 reviews, with 40 reviews "Fresh" and 67 reviews "Rotten". It received an average score of 5 and a score of 27% from top critics, based on 26 reviews.[1] It did, however, reach a higher rating of 62% from the RT Community. Their consensus is "Heavy on cliches and light on charm, this kid-lit fantasy-adventure doesn't quite get off the ground." In addition, Metacritic has given the film a 47 out of 100, indicating "Mixed or Average Reviews".[2]
Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter disliked the film, saying: "Whatever made the German novel Inkheart by Cornelia Funke so popular that it got translated into 37 languages is nowhere in evidence in its film version", and "The main problem is the central concept itself."[3] On the other hand, Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic enjoyed the film, saying: "Inkheart is entertaining enough, if not always easy to follow. And if it does nothing else, at least it may inspire kids to read, if for no other reason than to help make sense of it all."[4]
Box Office
The film grossed $2,110,000 during its opening day in 2,655 theaters. It opened at #7 at the domestic box office with $7,725,000. It has made $17,303,424 Domestically, and $40,186,950 Foreign, making $57,490,374 as of April 9th.[5]
Home release
Inkheart was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on 13 April 2009.[6] It was released in the United States on 23 June 2009.
Sequel
According to The New York Times, the sequel movie Inkspell has already been announced.[7]
Cartoon
Before the film was released a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon Scaredy Cat was play before the flim.
References
