February 26, 2010: The Secret of Kells
The Secret of Kells is a perfect example of the kind of minor treasure I discover during my annual Oscar push. An animated film but not at all in the lush Disney style, it uses the medium of the animated canvas to its fullest to tell a story which is simple but powerful.
I watched this with my family, since it was suitable for a general audience and so few films are these days. We are introduced to a religious Irish community inside a walled city, with invasion by the mysterious “Northmen” a constant threat. A young boy, Brendan, who has no parents but whose uncle runs the Abbey and effectively rules the small village, gets into the usual amount of mischief for young children trying to discover the world for themselves and defying the rules set out for them by adults.
When a long-absent elder returns to the abbey, bearing a legendary book for which he is an illuminator (the guy who draws the fancy swirls and animals and such in the margins of ancient books), Brendan takes an immediate interest in the man, the book, and the prospect of becoming an illuminator. Against his uncle’s wishes and without his knowledge, Brendan learns the techniques of illumination and even ventures out where he is forbidden to go, into a forest to find raw materials for some raw materials for ink pigment. There, he meets a wolf in the form of a young girl and the two of them, through their first and subsequent visits, teach each other about the worlds they don’t know. Ultimately, the search for a “glass eye” (which turns out to be an illuminator’s tool) takes Brendan through an encounter with a monster which appears to represent his own demons. Invasion by the Northmen and the scattering of the village inhabitants, including Brendan and his uncle, leads to a coda decades later where we learn what has happened in the meantime.
The film is fairly short, and the story is lean. The visuals are the real draw here, with great graphics and a boldly styled manner of drawing people and things, not coincidentally mirroring the style of these ancient illuminated books. The characters are almost afterthoughts, buoying the legends both grand and intimate, and seemingly existing at times only to highlight the brilliance of these drawings. An example which “illustrates” this approach is how Brendan’s struggle with the demon to get the glass eye, which could have been a huge character-building turning point of the film, seemed almost too easy, as if to suggest that of course Brendan will overcome his demons, and we needn’t worry about that little detail. I might not recommend that anyone put The Secret of Kells high on their viewing priority lists, but Irish folklore, imaginative visuals and a clean if spare story make this one worth a look if it sounds interesting.
Treading new animated ground for me.
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