Electric Shadows 电影

“Ink”

11 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment

by Jonathan Thompson in Movies Tags: Allel, Chris Kelly, Emma, Incubi, Incubus, Ink, Jacob, Jamin Winans, Jennifer Batter, Jeremy Make, John, Netflix, Pathfinder, Quinn Hunchar, Storyteller, Troy Garner

Quote of the movie:

Jacob: “He’s convinced himself he’s God, we’re just reminding him he’s not. It takes humility to remember who we are.”

What a refreshingly beautiful film. This has been in my Netflix queue for months, and I just noticed that it will be taken off as of February 16, so I decided that I had better watch it before I lost the opportunity.

Like I’ve said in reviews before, I like coming to a film without a lot of prior knowledge or bias. Watching a movie with a clean slate allows for a more meaningful experience, in my opinion. And this film gives an incredible experience.

Jamin Winans – director, writer, editor, and composer — creates a touching film about a father and his daughter. He creates an parallel plane of existence, where Storytellers deliver beautiful dreams to those asleep, and where Incubi send shadows to plague sleepers with awful nightmares. And in the midst of this conflict between good and evil, another being stands in the middle, swaying back and forth between the two: Ink (Troy Garner). Ink steals Emma’s (Quinn Hunchar) soul in order to deliver it to the Incubi. The Storytellers work to bring back Emma’s soul and to disillusion her father, John (Chris Kelly), in order to bring the two together.

The film does not have a linear structure to its presentation. The movie starts off with a frustrated man — which is later identified as John — driving in his car and getting into a car accident. The scene changes to a flashback with his man and his daughter, Emma. The car accident isn’t explained or understood in its context until much later in the film, in my favorite scene.

Even though this film did not have a large budget, the camera work in “Ink” is just beautiful. There is a prominent use of light and darkness, referring to the real world and the alternate plane of being as well as good and evil in general. The Storytellers manifest through bright flashes of light, which are just spectacular when set against the darkness of the night, and their home is bathed in a glorious golden light. The Storytellers’ light is sharply contrasted by the Incubi’s darkness. The shadows that they unleash to torment sleepers are an incredibly dark black — even darker than the night. Even the Incubi themselves are dark figures, let alone for the disturbing screens over their faces, which emit an unnatural and sickly light.

There are so many interesting details that Jamin Winans creates in his universe. When Storyteller Allel (Jennifer Batter and Ink fight in Emma’s room, they slam against her furniture, which smashes and then immediately fixes it self. They are of another world, and they battle in ours, but our world remains unaffected. It’s such an interesting detail that is so elegant to watch. This scene presents fantastic choreography of fighting spirits and an almost magical sense of self-purity from the objects in the room. A Storyteller knocks over a lamp, and it floats back up onto a table. It gives a serene quality in the midst of the violence.

Another detail segues into my favorite scene in the film. Jacob, the pathfinder (Jeremy Make), who has infuriated Allel during their entire time working together, finally reveals what he actually can do. He’s blind and sports two black X’s over his eyes. He can’t see the world, but he can hear the beat of the world. Reciting “One..two..three..four” over and over, the soundtrack joins in with Jacob to create a soundscape of music and action. A series of events begins, starting from a boy giving a merchant a dollar bill, which then gets blown a way in the wind. Each little even causes another reaction, and those scenes are juxtaposed with shots of Jacob chanting in time with the music, even conducting, acting as the maestro responsible for the chain of events that leads to the car accident that started off the film. The collaboration between these perfectly shot scenes with the invigorating and driving music is pure gold. This scene is art, and I loved every moment of it.

This movie is beautiful. I wish more movies were made in this way, with less of a focus in action and convention, and more importance on beauty and meaning. This film captures the viewer from the very beginning, pushing him to unravel the mysteries of the plot, until it unwinds into a touching and satisfying ending. Winans’ soundtrack is a work of art in itself. The music creates the perfect mood for this film, a subdued yet ethereal quality, that I cannot get over. Please watch this film.