Inkheart (2008)

Director:

Iain Softley

Writers (WGA):

David Lindsay-Abaire (screenplay)
Cornelia Funke (novel)

Release Date:

23 January 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Every story ever written is just waiting to become real.

Plot:

A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Escape | Villain | Disappearance | Young Girl

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Brendan Fraser	...	Mo 'Silvertongue' Folchart
Sienna Guillory	...	Resa
Eliza Bennett	...	Meggie Folchart (as Eliza Hope Bennett)
Richard Strange	...	Antiquarian Bookshop Owner
Paul Bettany	...	Dustfinger
Helen Mirren	...	Elinor Loredan
Matt King	...	Cockerell
Steve Speirs	...	Flatnose
Jamie Foreman	...	Basta
Stephen Graham	...	Fulvio
Mirabel O'Keefe	...	Young Meggie
Andy Serkis	...	Capricorn
John Thomson	...	Darius
Lesley Sharp	...	Mortola
Tereza Srbova	...	Rapunzel

Also Known As:

Ink Heart (USA) (alternative spelling)
Tintenherz (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG for fantasy adventure action, some scary moments and brief language.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Germany | UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #43606) | Ireland:12A | Germany:12 | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Taiwan:PG-12 | Netherlands:9 | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | South Africa:10V | Sweden:11 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-11 | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Mexico:A | Iceland:10 | Australia:PG | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Bourne Woods, Farnham, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte

Trivia:

Paul Bettany's wife, Jennifer Connelly, appears as Dustfinger's wife.

Goofs:

Factual errors: A sign at the entrance to Elinor's house reads "Don't even think about entering"; underneath there are translated versions. Despite the novel the movie bases on is of German origin, the German translation on Elinor's sign is wrong - "Denk sogar nicht daran..." instead of "Denk nicht einmal daran...". (In the German dubbed cinema version of this movie, there is a voice-over while the sign is on screen, telling the correctly translated version.)

Quotes:

Elinor Loredan: You barbaric piece of pulp fiction!

Fairly faithful, but bad ending.

Cornelia Funke is my favourite author and so I was nervous about the transfer to the screen. I knew there would be inevitable cuts and changes, which could take the heart out of the story. The actors (with the exception of Helen Mirren) didn't match what I had in my head. Could they capture the in depth personalities?

As it turned out, my casting concerns were unfounded, although there was an annoying line from Capricorn. (In the trailer, unfortunately.) The cuts are noticeable, but acceptable. Same goes for the majority of changes. I enjoyed the first two sections, but then came the ending. I won't say how it's changed, but it was WRONG. In fact it was so WRONG, that there will be difficulties sequel-wise.

The best way to enjoy Inkheart is to lose yourself in the book. I hope this film encourages viewers to do just that.

7/10