Home-Grown Movie

I hesitate to blog about a movie many of you reading this won't have any chance to see in the near future, but I've decided to go for it anyway. Last night, I saw Ink, a very small independent film made by a local Colorado filmmaker. The movie has yet to pick up a distributor, but is making the rounds at a few film festivals and is starting to get some notice. So who knows, maybe late this year it might be showing at the art house near you. In the meantime, if you're in the Denver area, you can take advantage of a limited run at the Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli.

Ink is an unusual, fantastical tale somewhat in the mold of Dark City or Donnie Darko. It's the story of a hidden world co-existing with our own, in which two forces do battle against each other -- one responsible for bringing us dreams when we sleep, the other responsible for bringing us nightmares. An incubus looking to prove himself to the nightmare faction has been given a mission to abduct a little girl and deliver her for a sacrificial rite. Meanwhile, in the real world, that girl falls into a coma, as her estranged father becomes a focal point in the struggle between unseen forces as well.

Let me say that while I hope this film is picked up for wide distribution (and I believe it will be), I don't think it was a spectacular piece. The writing is a bit convoluted at times. The pace of the film occasionally drags, and the direction sometimes leaves it a bit unclear what is occuring in the real world and what is transpiring in the dream world (and not in a good way).

But the film does have more good points than bad. When the story is firing, it's very engaging. You do care for many of the characters, and the revelations of the final act are very strong.

But the single greatest thing I can praise about Ink is the look of the film. This movie was made on a budget in the neighborhood of "hey guys, wanna help me make a movie?" But it looks better than most multi-million dollar pictures coming out of Hollywood. The shadowy creatures that make up the nightmare army have a truly inspired and unsettling look to them. What visual effects the movie has are employed in specific and incredibly effective ways. Visually, this movie really is a work of art.

As it happens, Ink is not the first film from this Colorado director, and one of his earlier efforts, 11:59, is actually available on DVD now. So perhaps regardless of what happens as Ink runs the festival circuit in search of backers, you might one day get the chance to see it. If you're a fan of the visual side of filmmaking, you will definitely want to. I rate it a B-.