''The Secret of Kells'' is a 2009

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...

about the making of the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells ( la, Codex Cenannensis; ga, Leabhar Cheanannais; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the ...

, an

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...

from the 9th Century. The film is an Irish-French-Belgian co-production animated by Cartoon Saloon, which premiered on 8 February 2009 at the

59th Berlin International Film Festival The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s '' The International'', screened out of competition. Costa-Gavras's immigrant drama '' Eden Is West'' se ...

. It went into wide release in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 11 February, and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

on 3 March. It was nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for animated films. An animated feature is defined by the Academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by- ...

, but lost to

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

's '' Up''. It was directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, produced by

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

, Didier Brunner and Vivian Van Fleteren, written by Fabrice Ziolkowski, distributed by Gébéka Films, Kinepolis Film Distribution,

Buena Vista International Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

, edited by Fabienne Alvarez-Giro and music composed by Bruno Coulais and Kíla. It stars Evan McGuire, Brendan Gleeson, Christen Mooney,

Mick Lally Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broade ...

(in his final film role), Michael McGrath,

Liam Hourican Liam Hourican is an Irish actor, best known for his roles in BBC Three comedy ''Murder in Successville''. As well being on television, he is also a voice actor. Hourican has worked as a stand-up comedian. Hourican appeared in various comedy r ...

Paul Tylak Paul Tylak is an Irish writer, actor and comedian. Personal life Paul Tylak was born to an Irish mother and Sri Lankan father, and grew up between Ireland and England. He attended the now closed De Burgh School in Tadworth, Surrey. He has live ...

and Paul Young. The film is the first installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", preceding the films ''

Song of the Sea The Song of the Sea ( he, שירת הים, ''Shirat HaYam'', also known as ''Az Yashir Moshe'' and Song of Moses, or ''Mi Chamocha'') is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 b ...

'' (2014) and ''

Wolfwalkers ''Wolfwalkers'' is a 2020 animated fantasy adventure film directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the third and final installment in Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous films '' The Secret of Kells'' (2009) and ...

'' (2020).

Plot

Set in 9th century

, during the age of

Viking expansion Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russi ...

, the film’s protagonist is Brendan, a curious and brave boy living in the tightly-knit

Abbey of Kells The Abbey of Kells (''Mainistir Cheanannais'' in Irish) is a former monastery in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, north of Dublin. It was founded in the early 9th century, and the Book of Kells was kept there during the later medieval and early ...

under the care of his stern uncle, Abbot Cellach, who is obsessed with building a wall around the Abbey to prevent

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

attacks. Apprenticed in the

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes an ...

of the monastery, Brendan hears the other monks talk of Brother Aidan, creator of the ''Book of Iona'', and becomes curious about the mysterious illuminator and the book that "turns darkness into light" (the unfinished ''

''). Aidan arrives in Kells, accompanied by his white cat,

Pangur Bán "" is an Old Irish poem, written in about the 9th century at or near Reichenau Abbey, in what is now Germany, by an Irish monk about his cat. , 'White Pangur', is the cat's name, possibly meaning 'a fuller'. Although the poem is anonymous, it ...

, after his monastery at Iona is destroyed by a raid. After eavesdropping on a discussion between Cellach and Aidan, Brendan wanders into the scriptorium and finds the still-to-be-completed book guarded by Pangur Bán. Aidan arrives, and tells Brendan about the book. Seeing Brendan as a suitable apprentice, Aidan sends him and Pangur Bán into the woods to obtain gall nuts to make ink. Cornered by a hungry pack of wolves, Brendan is saved by the fairy Aisling, who overcomes her initial suspicion and accepts Brendan after he reveals his intentions of helping to create the book. After a close encounter with Crom Cruach, a deity of death and destruction of whom Aisling is deeply afraid, Brendan and Aisling return to the outskirts of the forest, and she assures him that he can return any time. At the monastery, Brendan is reprimanded by Cellach, who forbids him to leave again. Continuing to work with Aidan, Brendan learns that the work is endangered by the loss of the ‘Eye of

Colm Cille Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

’, a special magnifying lens captured from Crom Cruach. When Brendan tries to visit Crom's cave to obtain another ‘Eye’, Cellach confines him to his room. Freed by Pangur Bán and Aisling, Brendan runs into the heart of the woods, where a shocked Aisling begs him not to confront the dark deity, warning that Crom Cruach will kill him just as it killed her mother and the rest of her people. Declaring that the book will never be completed without the ‘Eye’, Brendan persuades Aisling to help him enter Crom’s cave, narrowly escaping death in the process. Brendan duels with Crom and seizes the Eye, blinding Crom and causing the deity to consume itself, becoming an ouroboros. Returning to the cave entrance, Brendan finds the forest covered in white flowers. Brendan returns to the abbey and continues to assist Aidan in secret, watched excitedly by the brothers of the monastery. A messenger from outside warns Cellach that the Vikings are on their way. In a fit of anger and frustration, Cellach locks Brendan and Aidan in the scriptorium, but not before ripping out a page Brendan had created. The Vikings invade Kells and breach the wooden gate, to Cellach’s horror. Cellach is wounded by an arrow, then by a Viking blade, as the Vikings swarm Kells. Still locked in the burning scriptorium, Brendan and Aidan escape using green smoke from the gallberry ink, confusing the raiders. The wooden staircase to the abbey’s central tower becomes overloaded with panicked villagers and collapses, and the village and abbey below are set ablaze. Unable to help Cellach, Brendan and Aidan flee to the forest with Pangur Bán as the Vikings breach the main church and attack the monks and villagers hiding within. Vikings in the forest find Brendan and Aidan and take the bejeweled cover, scattering the pages of the book, but Aisling’s wolves arrive and either scare away or kill the Vikings. As Brendan finds the final page of the book, he comes face to face for a moment with a white wolf, who may be Aisling. Kells has been sacked and burnt, with few survivors, and Cellach severely injured (although he survives). Brendan and Aidan travel across Ireland and, after many years, complete the book. Aidan entrusts the book to Brendan and then dies, and the now-adult Brendan returns to Kells with Pangur Bán, guided by a white wolf (revealed to be Aisling). Brendan reunites with the aged, guilt-ridden Cellach, and shows him the completed ''Book of Kells''. The film closes with an animated rendition of the Chi-Rho page, featuring its intense detail.

Cast

* Evan McGuire as Brendan, a bright, imaginative, and curious 12-year-old who leads a sheltered life. * Brendan Gleeson as Abbot Cellach, Brendan's uncle, who is a former illuminator who now superintends a wall to protect the

from invasion. * Christen Mooney as Aisling, a forest

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

, related to the

Tuatha Dé Danann The Tuath(a) Dé Danann (, meaning "the folk of the goddess Danu"), also known by the earlier name Tuath Dé ("tribe of the gods"), are a supernatural race in Irish mythology. Many of them are thought to represent deities of pre-Christian Gae ...

, living in the woods outside of Kells. *

as Brother Aidan, a master illuminator. This was noted to be Lally’s last film before his death on 31 August 2010. * Michael McGrath as Adult Brendan. *

as Brothers Tang and Leonardo, two illuminators from Asia and Italy, respectively. *

as Brother Assoua, an illuminator from Africa. *

as Brother Square, an illuminator from England.

Influences

The film is based on the story of the origin of the

, an

Gospel book A Gospel Book, Evangelion, or Book of the Gospels (Greek: , ''Evangélion'') is a codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels of the Christian New Testament – normally all four – centering on the life of Jesus of Nazareth ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

, containing the

four Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

located in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland. It also draws upon

Celtic mythology Celtic mythology is the body of myths belonging to the Celtic peoples.Cunliffe, Barry, (1997) ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press , pp. 183 (religion), 202, 204–8. Like other Iron Age Europeans, Celtic peoples followed ...

; examples include its inclusion of Crom Cruach, a pre-Christian Irish deity and the reference to the poetic genre of

Aisling The aisling (, , approximately ), or vision poem, is a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of the first syll ...

s, in which a poet is confronted by a dream or vision of a

seeress In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...

, in the naming of the forest sprite encountered by Brendan. Wider mythological similarities have also been commented upon, such as parallels between Brendan's metaphysical battle with Crom Cruach and

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. ...

's underwater encounter with Grendel's mother. ''The Secret of Kells'' began development in 1999, when Tomm Moore and several of his friends were inspired by Richard Williams's ''

The Thief and the Cobbler ''The Thief and the Cobbler'' is an unfinished animated fantasy film co-written and directed by Richard Williams. Originally conceived in the 1960s, the film was in and out of production for nearly three decades due to independent funding and ...

'', Disney's '' Mulan'',

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's pr ...

's paintings, John Bauer's illustrations and the works of

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

, which based their visual style on the respective traditional art of the cultures featured in each film. They decided to do something similar to

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...

's films but with Irish art. Tomm Moore explained that the visual style was inspired by Celtic and medieval art, being 'flat, with false perspective and lots of colour'. Even the cleanup was planned to 'obtain the stained-glass effect of thicker outer lines'.

Reception

The film was very well received by critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

it has an approval rating of 90% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. Rotten Tomatoes critics concluded that the film was "Beautifully drawn and refreshingly calm, ''The Secret of Kells'' hearkens back to animation's golden age with an enchanting tale inspired by Irish mythology." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 20 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Some critics compared the film to

's works such as '' Princess Mononoke'' and '' Spirited Away''.

Joe Morgenstern Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morgen ...

of the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' said that "it pays homage to Celtic culture and design, together with techniques and motifs that evoke Matisse, Miyazaki and the minimalist cartoons of UPA". Gary Thompson of the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Da ...

'' said ''The Secret of Kells'' "is noteworthy for its unique, ornate design, its moments of silence... and gorgeous music". Leslie Felperin of ''

Variety Magazine ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

'' praised the film as "Refreshingly different" and "absolutely luscious to behold". Jeremy W. Kaufmann of

Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book proje ...

called its animation "absolutely brilliant", and reviewers at ''

Starlog ''Starlog'' was a monthly science fiction magazine that was created in 1976 and focused primarily on ''Star Trek'' at its inception. Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs were its creators and it was published by Starlog Group, Inc. in August 1976. ' ...

'' called it "one of the greatest hand drawn independent animated movies of all time". Writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', Charles Solomon ranked the film the tenth best anime on his "Top 10". On Oscar weekend it was released at the

IFC Center IFC Center is an art house movie theater in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is ...

in New York City and was then released in other venues and cities in the United States, where it grossed $667,441. According to

, CEO of Cartoon Saloon, "Kells came out and it didn’t really make much of an impact in Ireland... It made more waves in the US. It got picked up by

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...

Films, which was the first time they had theatrically distributed a movie".

Accolades

;Wins * 2008: Directors Finders Award at the Directors Finders Series in Ireland * 2009: Audience Award at the

Annecy International Animation Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

* 2009: Audience Award at the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

* 2009: Roy E. Disney Award at Seattle's 2D Or Not 2D Film Festival * 2009: Grand Prize at the

Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival The Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF, ko, 서울 국제 만화 애니메이션 페스티벌) is an annual showcase festival of animation, cartoon and related art genres held in Seoul, South Korea since 1995. It is sponso ...

* 2009: Audience Award at the 9th

Kecskemét Animation Film Festival Kecskemét Animation Film Festival () (KAFF) is an animated film festival held biennially during the month of June in Kecskemét, Hungary. Although the bulk of the festival is oriented toward efforts in Hungarian animation, the associated KAFF-sp ...

; Kecskemét City Prize at the 6th Festival of European Animated Feature Films and TV Specials * 2010: Best Animation award at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards * 2010: European Animated Feature Award at the British Animation Awards ;Nominations * 2009: Grand Prix Award for Best Film in the

* 2009: Best Animated Film at the

22nd European Film Awards The 22nd European Film Awards were presented on 12 December 2009, in Bochum, Germany. Winners and nominees Best Actor Tahar Rahim – '' A Prophet'' (''Un prophète'') *Moritz Bleibtreu – '' The Baader Meinhof Complex'' (''Der Baader Mein ...

* 2009: Best Animated Feature at the 37th Annie Awards * 2010: Best Film at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards * 2010: Best Animated Feature at the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

References

Literature

* Keazor, Henry, "Stil, Symbol, Struktur: 'The Tree of Life' als Motiv im Film", in: Der achte Tag. Naturbilder in der Kunst des 21. Jahrhunderts, edited by Frank Fehrenbach and Matthias Krüger, Berlin/Boston 2016, p. 163 - 200 * *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Secret of Kells, The 2000s children's animated films 2000s children's fantasy films 2000s fantasy adventure films 2000s French animated films 2009 animated films 2009 independent films Animated adventure films Animated films based on Celtic mythology Anime-influenced Western animation Belgian animated films Belgian independent films Canal+ films Cartoon Saloon films English-language Belgian films English-language French films English-language Irish films Films about Catholicism Films about Christianity Films about fairies and sprites Films directed by Tomm Moore Films scored by Bruno Coulais Films set in the 9th century Films set in Ireland Films set in the Viking Age France 2 Cinéma films French animated feature films French fantasy adventure films French independent films Historical fantasy films Irish animated films Irish children's films Irish Film Board films Irish independent films Saint Patrick's Day fiction