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Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The animation for this little fantasy flick is just so beautifully crafted and takes the crown of haunting animated movies these days.The style reminded me of Genndy Tartakovsky's Samurai Jack with its sharp edges to the character designs and the extensive use of colour to underline certain moods. And it really works! I could talk forever about that animation, because it is the crown achievement of the movie. The rest is good, but could have been deeper and have explained a little more about the book itself and certain passages in the story. The ending was also a little abrubt even if it was conclusive it just felt like it left off a little too early. We could have dived deeper into the interesting mythology and have had more of the awesome battle scenes. But what the movie does right is absolutely phenomenal!The beautiful animation and the both epic and soothing musical score really make The Secret of Kells enjoyable despite the short amount of running time. Go watch it, I guarantee you will enjoy it.

I had the pleasure of watching this in an Art House cinema in Aberdeen for my 16th birthday 2 months ago, being re-released as a celebration of Song of the Sea Tom Moore's new film (another STUNNING Gem by the way!) and I instantly fell in love with Moore's style and artistry. The film tells a true story about a book from an isle in Ireland with the most beautiful pictures and words written upon it's pages, describing it as "to look upon heaven itself". The book is brought to Kells, a medieval outpost which is constructing a great wall around it's monasteries and abbey to protect it from the Northern Invaders, (presumed to be the Vikings of Scandinavia who also pillaged Scotland.) The area is known to be full of monks and holy symbols, lead by Cellach, who anxiously awaits the attack. His young nephew Brendan, who usually spends his days with his "brothers" the other monks is swept up in the story of the book brought by it's author Brother Aiden, a monk from the Isle of Iona. Aiden and Brendan become close acquaintances and he entrusts his new apprentice to go into the forest with his white cat Pangur Bhan (from the old Irish poem) to collect green berries called gall nuts that produce the most beautiful emerald ink. Brendan is cornered by wolves in the process but is saved by a mysterious green eyed white spirit wolf who turns into her true form of a young girl about his age named Aisling. Aisling herself is in fact hundreds of years old and is a faerie of the forest which she is proud to call her own. She helps Brendan to collect the berries and although she isn't trusting of humans she forms a friendship with him and says he is welcome in her forest. Brendan must then look for the Eye of Crom, guarded by a dark ancient spirit Crom Crauch whom Aisling is deathly terrified of. The crystal eye will allow Brendan to concentrate when illustrating the Book. However, with Abbot Cellach under stress and the Vikings drawing ever nearer to the monastery, Brendan appears to have other things to worry about. This film is gorgeously animated, I felt like I was watching a painting all the way through. The Irish accents aren't difficult to understand at all and the Celtic rhythm of the music makes you feel as though you are there sitting in a bright green forest with Brendan and Aisling perched on a branch laughing along. The story flows very well, however the one problem I have with the film is you may need to be familiar with Celtic mythology. As a Scottish person I could understand most of it, but I think others had trouble keeping up. It was very well executed though so you kind of have it explained without to much exposition. The characters are all very 3 dimensional. The monks of the monastery are all very well designed with unique head shapes and voices and Brother Aiden is like a typical quirky grandfather figure. Brendan himself who is around 11 years of age is a very well written child character. He's intelligent but also clumsy and makes bad decisions and mistakes. His heart is kind and he looks to the good side most of the time. We see his spontaneous nature in the first scene as he attempts to catch an escaped goose, even going as far as to climb up the scaffolding. Aisling, the forest spirit is adorable. She's sweet but is also no nonsense and will not put up with a human stumbling across the forest which she guards as her home. She sees all animals as friends and my favourite scene is when she uses Pangur to help get the key to the cell Brendan is locked by Cellach his uncle, to prevent him from entering the forest again. She sings a Gaelic song to turn Pangur into a feline spirit and back again, allowing him to slip into Abbot Cellach's bed chamber without being seen or heard. Christian Mooney the voice actress for Aisling has a lovely voice. All the voice actors do a terrific job, especially the harsh tone of Abbot Cellach played by Brendan Gleeson. The Secret of Kells is a historical fantasy that can only be compared to the great works of Miyazaki. Watching it I drew parallels to Princess Mononoke, (wolves, girl of the woods, man and nature, the battle scenes) it's a very pretty film. It is quite dark in some places, the battle scene of the Viking invasion is frightening and a little graphic. I remember a mother who took her children out once or twice after seeing bodies fall off the scaffolding. It's a PG film but not for young kids. I would say for maybe 10 and up. Overall, this movie was amazing and I look forward to more of Moore.

I always love animation with different imagination with we see in daily animation. Here we saw magical colors spreads blowing our eyes by its beautiful light composition. And the ending is the best one. All it could be said in one word: gorgeous. But the story just so lame, hard to catch any message here. Or maybe it hidden and I'm too stupid to know. Very hard to know the meaning of pictures there and no alphabetical on the book. The Aisling song sang in unspeakable language. If anyone has it lyric please reply me. Its beautiful song, and voice, and I hope it meaning. Aisling voice is remarkably a picture of spirit, specially the giggles. Enjoy :)

(Highly Recommended) The Secret of Kells was so secret that it may have been easily overlooked by many serious film-goers in 2009. With its poor distribution rights in the United States and lack of access to many theaters, this foreign-made independent film was hardly seen, but it is now available on DVD/BluRay and streaming on Netflix. (Against the odds, the film was surprisingly nominated for an Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature, losing to Up.) This is must-see viewing.The animated film tells the story of Brendan, a young boy living in an abbey during the 8th century. His stern and over-protective uncle, Abbot Cellach, forbids him to leave the monastery and venture out into the dangerous world. But Brendan has a calling, a need to complete an unfinished illustrated manuscript, the Book of Iona. So off he goes into a magical forest to collect to collect gall nuts to make special ink for new pages. With the help of a forest spirit, he overcomes many obstacles to finally reach his goal.The narrative itself is convoluted and in need of more concise storytelling with many transitions between scenes seemingly abrupt and too episodic. But the visual artistry on display is stunning. Directed by Tomm Moore, The Secret of Kells pays full homage to its source. (The Book of Kells is a Latin illuminated book based on the four Gospels of the New Testament that was created by monks during Medieval times. The actual book remains on display at Trinity College in Dublin.) The animators use the hand-drawn decorative motifs combined with traditional Christian iconography and create an imaginative and highly stylized work of art. The backgrounds are flat fields of color with vibrant patterns of ornate swirls and geometric Celtic designs. The film is remarkable in its visual beauty. With painstaking details, many of the film's images resemble the illuminated manuscript in comparison. Far from the average animated film from major studios, The Secret of Kells is demand viewing for any serious animation aficionadoVisit my blog at: www.dearmoviegoer.comANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: [email protected]