Hand-drawn, heartfelt Irish animation in the Secret of Kells family.
Song of the Sea
Grade: A-
Director: Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells)
Screenplay: Will Collins (My Brothers) from Moore story
Cast: Brendan Gleeson (Calvary), voice, Fionnula Flanagan (Four Brothers), voice
Rating: PG
Runtime: 93 min.
by John DeSando
“My son, remember me in your stories and in your songs. Know that I will always love you, always.” Mother Bronagh
A good kids' animation will usually include some well-known motifs such as in Hansel and Gretel and The Wizard of Oz; Tomm Moore's Song of the Sea does. However, this is no ordinary animation: It swirls with pastels that morph into imaginative lines capturing humans and faeries as if the world supported both in their glory and despair--a phantasmagoric hot mess if you will. As he did in his first spectacular animation, the Secret of Kells, Moore hand draws (without the aid of computer) a maritime story about Ireland, not some nebulous Neverland.
Despite the imaginative, albeit almost primitive visuals, the story hammers home some important themes, especially for kids: the challenges of an older brother with a younger sister and the loss of a parent inducing depression to cause muteness. In addition, the interaction of a domineering grandma with small children plays a part as the filmmakers accurately target the challenges of growing up for any child.
In this Oscar-nominated tale set in 1987, Saoirse (voice of Lucy O’Connell), a mute child living in a lighthouse with her tormenting older brother, suffers the loss of mother, who is actually one of the Selkies (women in Scottish and Irish legend who change from seals to people while hiding their sealness). So, too, little Selkie Saoirse, who struggles to bring back mother from the sea and deal with grumpy grandma at the same time.
Saoirse’s responsibility is to save all the fairy creatures from the modern world. Besides meeting an array of eccentric characters, she helps her bro learn to love her, and dad to accept the loss of his wife. If the story is not new enough for you, then relax with visuals that will hypnotize in their simplicity of execution and complexity of theme.
Then you can also consider how this 6 million dollar movie beats the heck out of major studio productions costing twenty times that.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
