Ink (2009)
This film was recommended to me when I purchased The Fall on Amazon and since it’s my favourite film of all time, I thought why not give this a go as well.
Ink is a film that is very difficult to describe, because for the first 40 minutes it makes very little sense (never fear, though, the ending is incredible and everything makes sense then). I’ll do my best though:
In a world that is part of ours but one we cannot see, dwell the Storytellers that bring good dreams and the Incubi that bring nightmares. Even though they are always around they never interfere with our world more than to manipulate what we see at night. One night, however, a stranger by the name of Ink, who is neither Storyteller nor Incubus, kidnaps a young girl, Emma (Quinn Hunchar) to take to the Incubus realm and prove his worth to join their ranks. Allel (Jennifer Batter) a Storyteller assigned to watch over Emma, seeks out Jacob (Jeremy Make), a Pathfinder, to help her find Emma before she is sacrificed to the Incubi and is lost to the world forever.
And that’s about all I can tell you before I start to give vital plot points away. Now, before you dismiss the film as something too confusing to understand, bear with me. The film has a dual plotline; one based in the real world where Emma’s dad, John (Christopher Soren Kelly), fights an inner battle with himself about seeing his daughter again or not, after a tragedy killed his wife and the court granted custody of his child to her grandparents, and one based in the other realm where the Storytellers and Jacob fight to bring Emma back as Ink takes her further and further away. And although it seems that it would be impossible to work your way through it or wrap your mind around it, from a certain point in the film you realize that everything makes perfect sense, and whatever happened happened as it was meant to.
The first significant thing to note is that this film is incredibly low-budget. Having gone to film school and learned all the techniques used in this film, for a while I found it very difficult to watch. Don’t get me wrong, though, the film is wonderfully made, in fact, it’s stunning, but if you’re going in expecting blockbuster material then maybe you should watch something else. The film is reminiscent of Night Watch in style and cutting technique, so if you’ve seen that film and enjoyed it, then you will most likely adore Ink.
The character design is flawless: the Storytellers look like normal people, perhaps the only thing that would set them apart in a crowd would be the tiny drums they carry at their belts to open up gateways between our world and theirs; the Incubi are amazingly done, my jaw dropped when I saw their character design. The Incubi have no faces, they have screens where their faces should be which show a black and white grinning image of a person in glasses that is interrupted every so often by flashes of other images that are never defined; like a badly tuned television. Once the screens are removed, the glasses of the Incubi glow (as in the poster) and you see nothing else of their faces. Believe me, it may sound stupid reading it now, but it’s rather disturbing when you watch this film alone at night. Ink – seeing as he’s a character with no allegiance to either side – is a disfigured long-nosed hooded figure, who looks like he would fit in well in a kid’s play. But that’s the idea: because Emma is the one he kidnapped, Emma is the one that has to see him.
My favourite character, though, is Jacob. Throughout the entire film there is never enough detail given on any character to form a full backstory of them. Jacob is the only Pathfinder mentioned, and after a brief conversation between Allel and her companions it is obvious only that Pathfinders are very rare. I love his character because he’s a completely carefree individual. He couldn’t give a toss about any side, or Emma for that matter, all he cares about is keeping the beat of the world. And the beat of the world is what makes him so incredible. Pathfinders are blind, Jacob has black crosses taped over his eyes permanently, and he moves around and controls the Paths by listening to the beat of the world. I have to say that the Beat sequence in the film is probably my favourite part; it’s beautifully done and after that sequence is complete everything makes sense. Everything.
Plot-wise, I can’t tell you more than I already have. It’s a duel story that weaves in on itself to further both plotlines. If you feel that the first part of the film makes no sense to you, don’t worry, it makes no sense to anyone. As the film progresses things begin to fall into place and you start making vague links and connections. After the Beat sequence, everything falls into place. The end, however, is one of the best twists I’ve seen in a while. At least, I thought so. People who pride themselves on being able to “call it” might scoff and complain that it’s obvious, but to me it was wonderful. As they say, to each their own.
Ink is a very strange film, one that you can talk about for an age and never get the point across. It’s something you have to see for it to make sense. But it’s a film that I will recommend a lot of people to see, because it is well worth it. I will give it a 7/10 and definitely watch it again, if only for that one scene that I have mentioned so many times already that you’re probably sick of hearing about it (or perhaps intrigued to see it?). If you like Night Watch (and subsequently Day Watch) and enjoyed The Fall, then give this film a go.
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