Inkheart, a new fantasy adventure film released January 23rd start Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, and Paul Bettany. Grossing $3.7 million, it made the Top 10 list for its opening weekend. The film has done well since then and has been compared to the Harry Potter films. Just like the books written by J.K. Rowling, the film Inkheart is also based on a popular fantasy book series.
Yes, Inkheart was written in 2005 by Cornelia Funke and focuses on a man who has the ability to bring book characters to life when he reads about them. His daughter, Meggie, discovers his secret one night when a mysterious man named Dustfinger appears in the dark shadows of their garden. Meggie learns that when she was 3 years old her father (also known as Silvertongue) read to her from a book called Inkheart, a book about strange creatures set in medieval times. His reading released several characters into the real world: the evil Capricorn and his servant Basta, Capricorn’s pet martin Gwin, and Dustfinger, who also happens to be a fire eater. Unfortunately, when these characters were released Meggie’s mother Teresa disappeared into the Inkworld, the magical place that serves as the backdrop for Inkheart.
Dustfinger tells Mo that the evil Capricorn has sent his henchmen into the world to look for him. Mo has been running from Capricorn for years and decides that it’s best to take Meggie to live with her great aunt Elinor in Italy. Dustfinger decides to travel with them.
Capricorn, an evil and completely diabolical character has spent many years looking for Mo. Capricorn wants Mo to read an evil creature to life so he can use the creature to vanquish his enemies. Capricorn’s men are known to “spread fear like the Black Death, they push under doors and through mailboxes, they paint it on the walls and stable doors until it infects everything around it.”
The evil Capricorn is also looking for the author of Inkheart so he can force him to write a new, more diabolical ending to the book. Mo has been searching for the writer of Inkheart as well but he wants the author to write a new ending that will help him send Capricorn and Basta back into the Inkworld.
Capricorn is also looking for the person responsible for writing Inkheart so he can make him write a new and evil ending to the Inkheart story. In the meantime, Mo has spent years looking for a copy of Inkheart hoping that by reading it aloud a second time, he can send Capricorn and his henchmen back into Inkworld. He decides that finding the author of Inkheart is the best way to get rid of Capricorn - he’ll have the author write a story that removes Capricorn from the human world.
Surprisingly enough, even though Inkheart was written in 2005 Cornelia Funke asserts that it was written with Brendan Fraser in mind. When it was decided that the book would be made into a movie, she vehemently insisted that Brendan be cast as Mo. Although the studio wanted to cast a bigger actor in the role she held her ground; thus Brendan Fraser got the part. There’s word that the second book in the trilogy, Inkspell, will also be made into a film.
Inkheart is a well written action-adventure book that will appeal to both adults and teens. Cornelia Funke’s world building and character development are top notch and sure to attract more followers as the film’s popularity increases.
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