The Secret of Kells (2009) Review

This movie really touched my heart. I think the story is classic, simple, and matches well with the animation style. I was genuinely smiling after I watched it. The scene structure is very artistic, as well as framing dream or magic sequences with gaelic art.

In many ways, it’s a movie about itself. The film centers on the completion of a great illumination that will ‘turn darkness into light’, while the film’s artistic direction very closely resembles the interweaving and intricacy of this illumination. The circular pattern of the scriptorium, the separation of scenes into tall bars, the bordering of scenes with natural objects that appear in straight lines or graceful curves, as well as the many symbols that frame the dream or prophecy sequences. (Aisling means ‘dream’ or ‘vision’ in Irish.) It is a work of art, inspired by The Book of Kells, about The Book of Kells. I think the result is impeccable.