THE SECRET OF KELLS

Ireland, 2009, 75 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Evan Mc Guire, Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Christen Mooney.
Directed by Tomm Moore.

The Secret of Kells was a nominee for Oscar for best animation in 2009. It has a very distinctive animation style, full of colour and light, drawing inspiration from the books of illumination of manuscripts, including the Book of Kells. The characters are quite stylised, especially in the delineation of faces, facial parts, height and width. And the voices are very distinctively Irish, with Evan Mc Guire as the young brother Brendan, Brendan Gleeson as the Abbott, Mick Lally as the artist, Brother Aidan, and Christen Mooney as the mysterious young woman of the forest, Aisling.

The film was directed to younger audience, perhaps something like Kells for Kiddies, an opportunity to communicate something of Irish monastic history and the history of illumination to the young, introducing them to monastic history and medieval themes.

After an introduction to the history of the period, spoken rather indistinctly by the hero, the film opens out to a more straightforward narrative. Brendan is young man in the monastery, the nephew of the Abbott, interested in illuminated manuscripts but thwarted in his intentions by the Abbott who is concerned about the invasions of the Norsemen and on building a wall of fortifications, even though he was an illuminator in the past.

Brother Aidan who had eliminated a Book of Iona comes to the monastery to continue his work and begins his illumination of a book for Kells. Brendan is eager to help and is commissioned to collect berries for extracting juice for inks, entering into the forest which had been forbidden. He meets a wraith-like one girl, Aisling, who helps him in his quest. Also in the action is the monastery cat.

Aidan shows Brendan the process of mixing inks for a variety of colours. The Abbott discovers what has happened, he puts ban on Brendan’s going out which Brendan refuses.

Also in the action is the design of the star which is to become part of the elimination.

Ultimately, Brendan perseveres with his work, Aidan completes his work of art. Brendan grows older as does the Abbott, the Abbott relenting and their admiring the pages of the book, some of which in their design are reminiscent of the life of the monastery, beautiful in colour and design.

Perhaps adults not familiar with this Irish history may find it helpful and enjoyable as well.