The Secret of Kells

Locations
Call Number: Blu-ray Animation Secret
On Shelf At: Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Traverwood Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Blu-ray Animation Secret	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Blu-ray Animation Secret	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	Blu-ray Animation Secret	1-week checkout	Due 04-30-2024
Pittsfield Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Blu-ray Animation Secret	1-week checkout	Due 04-26-2024

Originally released as a motion picture in 2009.
Voices: Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Evan McGuire, Christen Mooney.
In a remote medieval outpost of Ireland, young Brendan embarks on a new life of adventure when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying a book brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears on a dangerous quest that takes him into the enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide.
Blu-ray, widescreen; requires Blu-ray player.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The Secret of Kells submitted by leighsprauer on April 20, 2022, 9:08pm This was such a strange, strange movie. First of all, visually, it was pretty unique; at first I didn't care for the style, but as the movie progressed I came to appreciate the use of symmetry and patterns. The artists aimed to create an animation style that was distinctly Irish, in the same way that Studio Ghibli's art is distinctly Japanese, and though I am by no means a scholar of Irish art, the patterns and colors did seem very Irish. (I don't know whether they drew from the actual Book of Kells, but it would not surprise me.)
One thing that made it strange, though, is that my kids and I had a long discussion afterward about whether it had a villain, and if so, who it was. The two main opposing characters - Br. Aiden & Abbot Cellach - respond very differently to the 'Northmen' (themselves obviously evil and in fact barely human) who threaten their culture. The Abbot is focused on building a wall to keep them out, and Aiden thinks that hiding, with the book, is the only solution. It was unclear to us, at least, which of these men acted heroically, or whether the viewer was supposed to draw any kind of moral from the story at all. I have my theories, but at the risk of spoiling it, I'll say that I think it did have a villain, but I'm not convinced that the writers intended for him to be one. I don't really know what the writers intended, to be honest. It was very strange.
Another thing that made it strange was that there is actually a book of Kells, and this is actually a fictionalized story of that book, but at no time during the movie is it made clear that the book of Kells is the Christian Gospels. I've heard elsewhere that the producers wanted it to appeal to a wider audience, so they left that part out and just referred to it as an important and very beautiful book. It is so important that it is worth risking their lives for, but there is no explanation (other than its beauty) as to why the book 'gives hope to the people.' I'm pretty sure even non-Christians can understand the significance of a religious text to a culture; it's bizarre to completely take it out of context.
Also there's some sort of were-girl, which is also strange, but that's the kind of strangeness I can live with.
With more context, and maybe a more satisfying or useful moral compass, this could have been a good movie. I gave it 3 stars only for the way the forest was illustrated, which was pretty cool.