Thursday, 08 January 2009 01:00 | and posted in Movie Reviews
Inkheart is based on the best selling book by Cornelia Funke. It is the story of a young girl called Meggie who finds out that her father is a “Silvertongue”: a person who can bring the written word to life by reading it aloud. When Meggie was just a small child, her father Mo, had accidentally “read” Meggie’s mother into a book called Inkheart bringing the villains out of the book in her place. It's now nine years later and the book’s villains are back.
The plot of Inkheart is ingenious and fast-paced. The film makers have adapted it excellently from the book. Unlike many adaptations, Inkheart has stuck closely to the original storyline and all the characters have been well cast and acted. My imagination did not leave the cinema disappointed. I was also impressed by the European feel to the film, which is not surprising since the author is German. It is nice every once in a while to see something that is not overwhelmingly American.
This film would probably be classed as fantasy but it’s not your everyday children’s fantasy story. There is no all-powerful child hero (although Meggie is definitely not helpless), there is no massing of two armies bristling with swords, and the victory is not won by fighting but by reading the written word. This film grabs your attention and doesn’t let you go until the very end.
The overall message of the film, and the book, is that books are still important even in our technological age. In Inkheart words and books are power. I really enjoyed this film because, unlike most fantasy stories, I left the cinema with a tiny part of me wondering, “what if it’s all true?” I would give the film 4 out of 5.
Inkheart is rated PG.
