The Secret of Kells...

When was the last time you were enchanted? When was the last time you looked at a film through the eyes of a child, with wonder and awe? I was fortunate enough to see such a film at the National Gallery of Art while in Washington DC recently. The Secret of Kells is a story about a boy named Brendan who is growing up in Kells Abbey under the supervision of his stern uncle, Abbot Callach. The Abbot is interested in building walls to keep the people safe from the invading Vikings. But Brendan has no interest in building walls; he has fallen under the spell of a legend of a famous illuminator, Aidan from Iona, who once worked with St. Colmcille.

One day there arrives at the gate of the walled Kells Abbey an old man with a white cat. The cat has one blue eye and one green eye. Brendan is beside himself with curiosity when he learns that the old man is Aidan, who has fled Iona which had been taken over by the Vikings. He has brought with him the illuminated book and is looking for someone to help him finish the key pages as his eyes are old and his hand is no longer steady. Through a turn of events, he enlists the help of Brendan to get the job done.

The animation style of this enchanting film was overwhelming at first. The characters were large, ill-proportioned, and very stylized, but soon they became familiar and upon closer inspection, juxtaposed against graphics of the Celtic figures in illuminated texts that were shown, it was easy to see where the shapes of the characters came from. The artwork looked to be watercolour or perhaps coloured pencil technique, so there was a soft, ethereal quality to the film. It was a sharp contrast to the Vikings, who were bold and black, with evil red eyes and lolling tongues. I imagine if I were a young girl of five or six these dark creatures would be most frightening.

What I enjoyed as much as the visual aspect was the bold soundtrack. It was rhythmic and visceral. The recorders, the flutes, and the drums were mesmerizing. When added to the visual animation, the music simply swept me along this fantastic tale. When this magical film ended, I went to the gift shop, hoping to purchase a copy to take home with me so I could relive the magic, but alas, there were no copies for sale. I hope to someday find a copy of this film for my private library; it is one I would like to see several times over. I have long been fascinated by Celtic history and this little animated film has rekindled my interest in this time period of history, so it looks like I will need to do a bit of research and see what I can learn.