“The Secret of Kells” is an Irish movie that was nominated for best animated picture in the Academy Awards, is an entrancing animated film that showed at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville.
The fanciful storybook animation is reminiscent of Samurai Jack and Kim Possible, though the animators don’t hide from the two-dimensional look for the majority of the film. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how good it looks on Blu-ray.
The plot revolves around a young Irish lad, Brendan, living in Kells, a community surrounded by walls. The walls are to protect the people from the Norse invaders whilst they complete a book that will “bring light to the darkness.”
The plot is fairly simple and easy to follow overall, but a lot is going on in most of the scenes of the film and it can be hard to take it all in at first. It was, however, enough to grab and hold the attention of me, a college student.
Though the “Abbot,” “brothers” and Celtic crosses would hint at Catholicism, the filmmakers seemed to avoid any kind of religious agenda. If you do your research, you will see that the Book of Kells is actually a heavily illustrated and ornamental book containing the four Christian gospels in Latin.
I wouldn’t recommend the movie to people with small children, as I imagine a few scenes (such as when the Vikings attack, or when Brendan encounters the cave of Crom Cruach) might be too frightening for them.
The soundtrack to the film was also incredible. Mostly featuring classic instrumental Irish folk music, it’ll definitely be one to pick up or download.
“The Secret of Kells” is a whimsical pleasure that’s guaranteed to amaze, and I highly encourage anyone to go see it or check it out when it comes to dvd & Blu-ray.