THE SECRET OF KELLS
2009
Not Rated
Not Rated
The Secret of Kells is an animated Irish film directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey. It follows a young boy named Brendan (voiced by Evan McGuire) as he tries to write and create the famous Book of Kells. All Brendan has ever known was the village of Kells, which is watched over by his uncle, Abbot Cellach (voiced by Brendan Gleeson), and the walls being built around the village for protection from the North Men. When a man named Aidan (voiced by Mick Lally) arrives in Kells from Iona, Brendan immediately starts to question him about the famed Book of Iona which is said to be able to turn darkness into light. Against the wishes of his uncle, Brendan enters the forest outside the village walls in order to search for a special type of berry that will make an emerald ink so that Aidan may finish the book. Along the way, he meets a forest fairy named Aisling (voiced by Christen Mooney) who helps him in his search. When he returns to the village, the Abbot forbids Brendan from venturing outside the walls; instead, he takes to helping Aidan with the Book of Iona, all the while watching as his uncle slaves over the wall meant to protect the village.
I'm gonna start by saying that the above synopsis does this movie's storyline absolutely no justice. In fact, it's much more intricate than what I've provided, and that's saying a lot considering the movie's run-time barely passes seventy minutes. There's so many words that come to mind when I think about how I want to describe The Secret of Kells, and I don't think any of them really encapsulates it fully. However, I think I'll list them anyways, and hopefully they'll give you a little bit of insight into the automatic reaction I had to the film.
The voice cast is also rather pitch-perfect. The only name you'd probably recognize on the list is that of Gleeson, but while I was watching the movie, I probably never would've guessed that was him. I have to give a lot of credit to McGuire and Mooney, who were absolutely fantastic. We also have a rather fantastic musical composition from Bruno Coulais that perfect accentuates the film's tone.
I know I'm not really saying much about this movie, but I'm really at a little bit of a loss for words this time around. Just take my movie review summary (listed below) as evidence of my admiration for this film. If that's not enough to sway you, ask me for more information. I'm sure I'll be able to give you some more at a later date.
Movie Review Summary:
I'm gonna start by saying that the above synopsis does this movie's storyline absolutely no justice. In fact, it's much more intricate than what I've provided, and that's saying a lot considering the movie's run-time barely passes seventy minutes. There's so many words that come to mind when I think about how I want to describe The Secret of Kells, and I don't think any of them really encapsulates it fully. However, I think I'll list them anyways, and hopefully they'll give you a little bit of insight into the automatic reaction I had to the film.
- Visceral
- Magical
- Real
- Dark
- Haunting
- Original
- Beautiful
The voice cast is also rather pitch-perfect. The only name you'd probably recognize on the list is that of Gleeson, but while I was watching the movie, I probably never would've guessed that was him. I have to give a lot of credit to McGuire and Mooney, who were absolutely fantastic. We also have a rather fantastic musical composition from Bruno Coulais that perfect accentuates the film's tone.
I know I'm not really saying much about this movie, but I'm really at a little bit of a loss for words this time around. Just take my movie review summary (listed below) as evidence of my admiration for this film. If that's not enough to sway you, ask me for more information. I'm sure I'll be able to give you some more at a later date.
Movie Review Summary:
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