Movie Review #3

Ink by Jamin Winans

1) Provide a description of the film. Discuss the plot and characters and how they influenced the film. Was the plot line or character development more important? Why?
In the film "Ink", directed by Jamin Winans, we see a war.  A war between two forces, fighting over our souls.  One fights for good, by providing good dreams, feelings, and images in an attempt to thwart the their opponents, the Incubus.  The Incubus are a group of people who attempt to steal souls human beings through nightmares and feelings of maliciousness.  The movie follows a little girl, Emma, who was kidnapped by a cloaked, grotesque man named Ink.  Ink wants to give her to the Incubus so he can join their group.  The only way to save her from losing her soul forever to the Incubus is a group of storytellers, who's job is to disrupt the incubi that are trying to corrupt the father John by making him do business instead of caring for his daughter.  At the hospital is where Emma's earthly body is held, John must confront himself with who he has become since the passing of his wife and remember who he once was when his wife was still alive, more than once.

The character development was the most important.  The plot was set in stone from the beginning and never really changed.  The whole film is about character development.  We even see sinister forces like Ink go through a major character change, good or bad, that effectively changes the entire supposed outcome.  Other characters, like the band of storytellers tasked with getting the girl back and rescuing John from the Incubus that are slowly corrupting his mind, go through emotional gauntlets that rarely let up, leaving them to bond closely with each other, strengthening their relationship while they desperately fight for the lives and souls of a man and his young daughter.


2) Think critically about how the film was shot, directed, use of lighting, etc. What do you think was effective in the making of the film? What took away or could have been done differently to enhance the film?
The film was shot in two ways.  One for the real world, and one for the spiritual.  The real world just uses more lighter colors, and everything seems bland and everyone is boring.  The spiritual world is used in a couple ways.  When the incubus are nearby, the screen goes greenish and highlights glowing lights, such as the incubus' glasses.  When the storytellers are in control, the light goes heavenly, and the colors are cool.  This is relaxing, especially for the viewer as the incubus and their darkening aura around them can leave the viewer feeling suffocated.

3) What is you overall opinion of the film? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?

Overall, I highly reccomend this film to anyone who is a fan of cult classics like "Donnie Darko", "The Matrix", or "Pan's Labyrinth".  It provides a story with iconic characters like Ink, Liev, and even insignificant characters like the ugly bride stuck in the spiritual world, obsessed with vanity and treats any women with more beauty than her cruelly, are rememberable.  The film is also a good metaphor for the battle between evil and good on different levels, such inner thoughts like depression and denial, two of which John experiences consistently.