"Ink" Review

Jamin Winans is single handedly attempting to revive Colorado's filmmaking industry, though it's difficult to revive something that was never alive in the first place. Colorado's most memorable onscreen moments are tied between "Dumb and Dumber" and "Mad Max 2", a truly sad state of affairs. Though Colorado possesses exquisite natural beauty, it seems to suffer the fate of many of the middle states, people just sort of forget about it. A full feature hadn't been shot in Colorado since Woody Allen's 1973 comedy "Sleeper," but in early 2009 Winans set out to do just that. Struggling with an inexperienced crew, an unknown cast and a miniscule budget, Winans has created a film that manages to overcome its many small failures to become a beautiful and out-of-the-ordinary fairytale.

"Ink" tells the story of Emma (played by the delightful Quinn Hunchar), an eight year-old girl who, when she falls asleep, is able to see the creatures who deliver dreams. In this world there are both good angels and bad angels, who deliver good and bad dreams respectively. In the first 20 minutes or so establishing this reality becomes a bit tedious and worrisome. The setup feels forced and bizarre, leaving the viewer scared that this might just be another indie film they won't understand. But then it changes. It's hard to say when, but somewhere between Emma falling asleep and her violent dream-kidnapping, leaving her body in a comatose state, the movie becomes gripping and intense. Winans uses the contrast of the dream world and the real world to great effect and manages to tell an interesting and compelling story through it.

For all the strength that the story possesses, there is a reason people don't usually do science fiction on a small budget. When a film takes place in a dream-world of angels, demons and monsters it is a given that the production design will end up costing an arm and a leg. Winans didn't have that arm or leg, so instead he relies on smoke, creative angles and unbelievably shallow depth of field. This works fine for the majority of the film, but there is a point when the audience begins to wonder just what the camera is hiding. It's only the inspired cinematography of commercial photographer Jeff Pointer that saves the film from becoming an inescapable sea of low Dutch-angles.

Jamin Winans directorial debut draws inspiration from a great many films yet it always manages to maintain its own sense of individuality. Winans is a strong visual director, in the tradition of Gilliam and Jeunet, and his dialogue, though at times laborious, is sharp and alive. This powerful, though flawed, directorial debut positions Winans as a man who may just be able to bring filmmaking to Colorado. It also begs the question: will someone please give this man some real money to play with?