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The Secret of Kells: You guys realize there's animation from coutries other than America and Japan, right?
See this picture? See how awesomely detailed it is, its unique style and the use of color and lines? Well, this is a screenshot from the Irish film, the Secret of Kells. It's made by the same company that did the Triplets of Belleville and they're known for extremely detailed 2D animation. I found out about this film through IMDB, because even though the movie came out a year ago in Europe, it just made the front page now.
Brendon is a boy who lives in Kells, Ireland during Medieval times. He's look after by his uncle, who won't let him go outside the city's increasingly fortified walls due to some danger. One day, an old aquantance of the uncle stops by, running away from barbarians and such and with him, he brings a cat and more importantly, an old and sacred book. Brendon has been helping the villages write books so of course he's curious, and that's the start of the adventure. Brendon goes beyond the walls into the forest where he meets a fairy and learns that not everything can be learned in books.
The artwork in this may be one of the best I've seen all year, especially in terms of 2D animation. It's almost as though the scenery is being painted and inked as you're watching it. Almost any still from the movie could be captured and sold as some kind of artwork and the world itself is given this freshness because of that. Now, I have a weakness for great 2D animation and wish there were more movies as inspired as this, but there are some people that would be turned off by this style. However, if you love animation, there is no reason for you not to watch this movie.
The story in this is mostly driven by the animation, but that isn't always a bad thing. It's very Pageny and Celtic-y (if those are words, which they probably aren't), and there are a lot of elements of nature and fantasy, with vikings and fun little villagers (including an Italian stereotype and big black man, which I don't understand, but hey). It isn't something most of us are going to relate to, but because this is an animated film, it works. There are a few twists and the direction works very well.
Why is there a big black dude in the middle of Medieval Ireland?
Overall, this film works best if you're a fan of animation or love Celtic-themed things (hell, it's better than Leap Year). I have no idea why this was on IMDB's front page but I don't think it would do well in wide release. If there's going to be a DVD coming soon, buy it, especially if there's a commentary and it shows how the film was animated.
My grade: B
Comment
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Comment by Don Panini on March 2, 2010 at 12:31pm -
I´ll check it out tonight and see what buzz is about
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Comment by JJ on February 28, 2010 at 11:01pm -
I wish we'd get more European animation over here. Keep an eye out for "The Illusionist" coming from France. That looks like it's going to be the big one this year.
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Comment by MPerce on February 27, 2010 at 6:31pm -
It's being released in US theaters in March, and I'm really pumped to see it. I had never heard of this until the Oscar nom, and I was at first mad that this beat out Ponyo. But this looks fantastic!!!
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Comment by wisecrack on February 26, 2010 at 3:17pm -
as an irish man i can tell you theres nothing new about animators being irish. One of the lead animators on Avatar was irish
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Comment by Exeedra on February 26, 2010 at 2:30pm -
I was really curious about this one after seeing it was nominated against The Princess and the Frog. I can tell just by the animation it looks like a really good movie.
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Comment by Composite Who Horrible on February 26, 2010 at 11:23am -
Well, just from watching the animation in the trailer and the story surrounding it (I'm a bit of a Celtic-Irish history nut) I think I'm going to check this movie out asap.
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Comment by Dominika on February 25, 2010 at 8:21pm -
Yeah, I saw the film but before, I saw a trailer and it mention the Triplets of Bellevue so I guess I thought the studio had more involvement so sorry about the misinformation. And as for the Chinese monk, I've watched too much anime so I didn't notice him.
When I watched it, it was really late and through a steam (a good stream, but a stream nonetheless). I also am a terrible writer. I didn't really have any problems with the film, I just didn't see that spark like I did with Fantastic Mr. Fox and Up. The story was very good, it was just overshadowed by the AMAZING artwork. And I would have liked to see more of the Ashley character and her origins.
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Comment by Daedalus Ciarán on February 25, 2010 at 5:53pm -
You have actually seen this film yeah? Sorry if this sounds acqusatory, it just seems like you missed the major points of the film and just got the bare facts from IMDB for a blog.
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Comment by Daedalus Ciarán on February 25, 2010 at 5:51pm
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There was tonnes of trade between the Mediterranean and Ireland in the early medieval period, so there were plenty of Africans who would have set foot on Ireland. Let alone Italian (since that's where Christianity spread through Europe from). Kinda surprised you didn't mention the Chinese monk. That's much more of a stretch. Ireland in this period was a major source of learning and sent out hundreds of missions to Europe where monastries were set up to educate people and spread the faith, inadvertently 'saving' western European civilisation in the process.
Oh, and the first picture there is not from the film. It's from the art book that was released along with the film; you can tell 'cause it looks completely different to the stills of the film. Also the company who made this film, Cartoon Saloon, had nothing to do with The Triplets of Bellevue. One of the financiers of Secret of Kells was also the financier of Triplets, but that's about the only connection there is.
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Comment by Dominika on February 25, 2010 at 4:06pm
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Dear Gift of the Magi
Thanks for the fun fact. I would have never guessed that the first animated film was from the Middle East especially when we mostly associate Disney with early animated films.
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