 "Photo: File")
“I have seen the book. The book that turns darkness into light.”
At first look, this may seem like any other line, but there is more truth to this than the naked eye can see. This week I bring to you an animated film that floored me many reasons.
The Oscar nominated film, “The Secret of Kells,” won me over with its mesmerizing hand-drawn illustrations and true life story it depicted about an ancient scripture called “The Book of Kells.” Written by monks in 800 A.D., the story illustrated the manuscript of the four Christian gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The book is said to have drawings so intricate that it can’t truly be appreciated by just the human eye.
“The Secret of Kells” focuses its story around the book and how it is the only thing that can save the forest-secluded town of Kells from blood-thirsty barbarians. Brendon, a young boy who believes the book has powers beyond our understanding, must disobey his father, the king, and travel into the forbidden forest to save his people.
In the forest, Brendon meets Aisling, the forest keeper, a little wolf-girl who has unnatural powers, and decides to help Brendon fulfill his quest as long as he stays away from the evils that consume the forest.
As the story continues, a mix of genres is brought into the picture which I quickly fell in love with. Although mostly taken from a serious perspective, themes of comedy, adventure, horror and fantasy were all shown in the film.
The illustrations, especially in the darker scenes, brought me back to the time I first saw “Coraline.” The creepy tension I felt is something I think is really hard to capture in animated films that “Kells” succeeded in flawlessly. A second reminder of Caroline was in the side-kick cat that followed Brendon around the whole movie, subtly helping him when needed without speaking.
In addition, I loved the dialects from all the characters which blended in nicely with the medieval vibe that first time directors Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey were trying to create.
Oddly mixed between “Ferngully,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and “Sita Sings the Blues,” I‘m glad to see the film getting such good praise. I enjoy the idea of a book so beautiful that it can save an entire village from fatal disaster just by looking at it. In fact, the most stunning scene of the film goes to the artists that designed this remarkable book in ways that I cannot describe with words.
The film is currently being shown in very limited theaters not in Georgia, but it will be available on DVD this year.
Be the first to comment on this article!