In fact, there is no need to entangle the question about what Ink is, and why you must choose your own daughter as a sacrifice, and why those good people will know John and Lori-because in my opinion, I appreciate this film. The greatest pleasure is not to explore whether the logic and worldview are reasonable and rigorous, but the exquisite beauty and wonderful agility of the fantasy scenes it presents.
Of course, if you have to say a reason—whether it is a nightmare or a storyteller, can they indirectly affect people's dreams? The two powers that can penetrate into the dreamland, what is it strange to know John and Little Lolita? ...I myself wonder why some people can't understand this problem.
I must say that the structure of the whole film may make many people feel uncomfortable watching it-because its most critical burden is basically all shaken out in the second half, and some people have no patience because they can’t understand it. Persevere till the end. This is a pity. But it has enough charm that I can read it with relish even when I haven't fully understood the truth-that is its editing, its depiction of dreams, the design of the character image and the cleverly jumping soundtrack.
I especially like these highlights:
First, the design of the nightmare image. Why use a display screen to cover the front, indirectly projecting a black and white face? Indirectly showing the face. I think the metaphor is that the nightmares that nightmares bring to people are often obscure and difficult to tell people. The black and white tones mean the pale/gray, extreme/monotonous characteristics of the nightmare and lack of beautiful colors. .
Then there is the scene where the forces of justice confront Ink. Since Ink's time and space are parallel to the normal world in time, but not the same space, those used as weapons and damaged objects will be restored immediately. This design is very interesting and very ornamental. Moreover, the shaking of the camera in that fight did not make people dizzy, on the contrary, I felt it had a vaguely jumping beauty, which was the same as the fight between Ink and Liev later. The scene with Liev was surrounded by heavily striped containers. These stripes and the small space between the long and narrow containers made the fighting scenes look more wonderful.
In addition, the forest where Allel and Liev are located, the scenery there is also very beautiful, the pale yellow color in autumn is very comfortable. The sparse light and shadow also make this scene more dreamy.
Next is the one I admire the most-the scene where Jacob counted one, two, three, and four, and made John crash through his domino-like reactions. It is difficult to express clearly in words. In short, it is very poetic and dreamy, and the design is ingenious.
At the end of the battle, the two worlds switch between each other, coupled with the ethereal jumping music, turning the fierce battle into a weird dance. Yes, the three men resisted countless nightmares. It should have been very fierce, but the viewer felt that the soul was drawn out at this time, watching all this happen at a very close but very far distance. , The ending is not important anymore, just feel the "rhythm of everything in the universe" as Jacob said.
Anyway, I really love it. Love its details, love its wonderful fantasy.
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Tell me about my understanding of a few doubtful points in the plot.
Some people say that it is hard to understand whether the Ink that John transformed into is just the subconscious materialization of his own subconscious or another spatiotemporal branch of self created by his choice, and he is not sure why he committed suicide and is still alive. I think there are two possible explanations. Since the talk of the righteous side in the film mentioned that "time acts on us and on you are completely different", in this way, maybe John has committed suicide in another branch of time and space, and he has not returned to himself after he becomes Ink. At the time of suicide, he lost his mind and memory at the same time, and it made sense to be vaguely instructed to find his own daughter by the subconscious mind. I think there are actually a lot of metaphors. It can be seen that the time and space in the film is not just two time-spaces with the same time axis but different space dimensions. What I call another time-space-the time and space where John, who has committed suicide, is located. It is the third type of time and space, and both space and time are different from the first two. Of course, if you don't think so complicated, then the second situation is-it is likely that John committed suicide but did not die. At 19 minutes and 10 seconds of the film, he can be seen touching his face near his temple. Maybe he committed suicide and left a gunshot wound. What about subconscious actions? It may not be just a touch of the beard on the face, is it shaved?
And why does John have to choose his daughter as a sacrifice? We can see that Liev has been hinting at Ink that you just forgot that you are a good person, and that you don't really want to go to the bad side. Then, if Ink comes from the incarnation of John who committed suicide in a time and space, and returns to another time and space where John has not committed suicide (of course, it can also be that John attempted suicide but his own "resentment" produced an independent entity like Ink, which exists in and The storyteller and the nightmare are in the same time and space, and after John's recovery, Ink, as an independent individual who has lost his memory, relies on subconscious driving to do what he wants to do. We are now talking about the issue of choosing his daughter as a sacrifice. The problem of time and space does not affect the reason why the protagonist chooses), trying to make a change. What kind of change? The above mentioned that Liev has been hinting at Ink, why should she play the role of trying to save Ink? Because of the role of Ink, whether it is the resentment separated by John from another time and space or John who has attempted suicide, in short, it represents a kind of confusion in John's heart. John had conflicts with his daughter's grandparents-that is, John's own parents. John and his father had conflicts with John because of family problems, and John was so angry that he didn't want to recognize his daughter. Therefore, what ink represents is naturally the most tormented part of John's heart-is it for a career or to find family affection and recognize his daughter again? John’s wife is dead, and the remaining daughters are also difficult for John to face due to family conflicts and other issues. The daughter’s problem is John’s biggest heart knot, so of course ink has to choose his daughter, who is the most critical party in the whole incident. Sacrifice-in fact, from the purpose of ink, a daughter should not be regarded as a sacrifice, but a "possibility". What will be the result of the daughter's soul in the hands of Ink, whether to give the nightmare as a sacrifice or return to the body and return to his father, it all depends on ink—that is, how John himself chooses when facing a dilemma. Liev’s origin is not the most important thing, the most important thing is because John has been suffering in agony, and has always been ambiguous about Liev’s persuasion, so obviously this is the obvious insinuation of John’s inner struggle—even a metaphor. Not on. In short, there is no need to entangle the resentment of whether ink is a John in another time and space or John in a parallel space. It is enough to know that what ink represents is such a struggle.
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