REVIEW: ‘The Secret Of Kells’

There are a number of elements that you might need in place before you sit down to watch Les Armateurs’ “the Secret of Kells” (distributed by GKIDS).  First, you need to have a deep love of Celtic music.  Second, you need to be able to follow a subtle story very well.  Third, you must have an intense appreciation for highly detailed yet highly stylized artwork.

All told, these things do not go together well to create a children’s movie – in much the same way that “Samurai Jack” was not a kids’ cartoon series – but it does make for a very interesting and inspiring film.

The story goes that the young orphan Brendan lives with his uncle, the Abbot Cellach, in Kells in Ireland.  The Abbot is near-obsessed with building a great wall around the abbey in an attempt to protect the village from the ravages of the Northmen who are notorious for raiding whatever villages they come across.  The Abbot is both overly protective and emotionally distant to Brendan, leaving the way open for Brother Aiden of Iona to step in and inspire the boy to all kinds of adventure.  Brendan is forbidden from going into the forest surrounding the village of Kells, but the need for a special berry (mistletoe) in order to make an emerald green ink drives Brendan out for the first time beyond the walls.  There he meets the true spirit of the forest and is set upon the path to his true destiny.

As the kids pointed out, the depictions of the Vikings in particular were not historically accurate, but with a story this old and favored, historical accuracy is not all that necessary.  There are no big-name voice actors, but the style is near enough to the popular animated series of our time – “Clone Wars” and “Danny Phantom” come to mind immediately – that kids may be attracted to it.  Young children might find a few of the images in particular disturbing, and overall the art is very busy and constantly moving.  (Pause the disc during the snow, for instance, and you’ll see that each of the snowflakes is a different popular Celtic knot.)  At the same time, the tween and teen group will likely find it uninteresting unless they already have a love for the subject matter.

The true split between a child’s movie and a more mature experience occurs when the story itself begins.  While there is a clear “good versus evil” plot, it gets a little lost in the personal conflicts and illustrations.  This is not altogether a bad thing, but the expectation of “animated films” to have very clear conflicts and solutions is not met here.  Fans of Celtic mythology will be delighted with this treatment of a well-documented but rarely-told tale, and those who appreciate rich yet whimsical artistry will be in seventh heaven.

Personally, I enjoyed it immensely, and I have already made a list of the people who will be receiving it as a gift for any given holiday.  I found it exciting and fascinating, and I will definitely be watching it again soon… when the kids are not around.  I can definitely see why it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but I can also see why it didn’t have more public appeal.  This is now my new favorite little secret treasure.