Viking marauders pillaging the bucolic Irish countryside. Severe monks monomaniacally building walls to keep out the invaders. Dedicated scholars scouring the woods for the right nuts and berries to make the right inks to make their illuminated manuscripts sufficiently intellectual.
Sounds perfect for the kids, right?
Well yes, actually, in the sophisticated hands of the makers of the animated “The Secret of Kells.” This Academy Award-nominated film is 75 minutes of artistic bliss, not to mention an engrossing story that any 8-year-old would gladly appreciate.
Brendan is the boy growing up behind those fast-rising walls. His uncle, the stern Abbot, disdains every childish desire of Brendan because he’s so worried about keeping the Viking raiders away from the Abbey of Kells.
Brendan has been hanging around the monks who lavishly and slavishly illustrate the books of Irish knowledge. He and the older monks dream of meeting the storied illustrator Aidan of Iona. The Book of Iona could be the masterwork for all of them.
The boy also has adventures while seeking inks and dyes in the surrounding woods, meeting a legendary local goddess who shows him life beyond the cloister. Together, the parts make a magical tale.
But the animation holds it all together, some odd combination of Disney’s cut-out “Charlie and Lola” and the elegantly dark graphics of “Persepolis.” “Kells” employs wondrous illustration to convey the wonders of illustration; the kids will get that whether they think of it or not.
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, the name of the movie was incorrect. It is “The Secret of Kells.”
