The Secret of Kells

6 December 2023

Directors: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey

See

Her: Secret of Kells, an animated film co-directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, released in 2009. It loosely tells a story of the making of the book of Kells. One day the youngest monk, a brave and curious boy called Brendan, overhears other monks talking about the “Book of Iona”, which turns “darkness into light”. He becomes very curious about it and when brother Aidan, the author of the book, arrives to the town of Kells, he goes above and beyond to help him finish it. Despite his master’s, (abbot Cellach’s) order, one night Brendan ventures into the dark forest to forage a special berry which is used to make ink. There he meets a she-wolf fairy called Aisling who protects him from demons and predators living in the forest. Impressed by Brendan’s courage, brother Aiden takes him as an apprentice which is not approved by brother Cellach. In the meantime, it becomes apparent that the viking invaders are going to attack the town soon and so brother Cellach has a bigger issue to worry about…

Him: Brendan (Evan McGuire) a young boy living in a walled Irish abbey with his uncle the Abbott Cellah (Brendon Gleeson) explores the forest to find tools to work on the religious tome, the Book of Kells, with the help of sprite Aisling (Christen Mooney).

Think

Her: When I watched this film for the first time I remember being very high and thinking how beautiful it is and that I’ve never seen anything like it. The second time I wasn’t high at all but the style of animation was still very impressive, maybe even more than highly acclaimed and much better known Studio Gibli’s animation.It made me want to watch all of the other films directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey. One of them, The Breadwinner, we watched together earlier this year. Good animation takes many years in making and therefore is very expensive. This film earned about half of its budget in the box-office but nevertheless, helped the directors to establish their reputation and made it possible for them to create other incrediably beautiful and very expensive films.

Feel: Every time I find a good animated film, I want to savour it. It truly creates endless possibilities for the creators as long as they are patient enough to bring their creative vision into life. The idea of making an animated film about the Book of Kells came to Thomas Moore when he was a student and watched one of Studio Gibli’s films. And so he had to first work hard for a few years on other commercial projects and save money before he could start working on this film which also took a few years to complete. This incredible patience and commitment to the idea makes me awe the creators even more and rewatch their films over and over again, to make sure no little detail goes unnoticed because I know how much time and energy it took someone to create.

Him: Illustration and animation has limitless potential to visualise ideas. How the viking invaders fill the space and multiply, in a silhouette pattern like paper doll chains. 

Feel

Her: Every time I find a good animated film, I want to savour it. It truly creates endless possibilities for the creators as long as they are patient enough to bring their creative vision into life. The idea of making an animated film about the Book of Kells came to Thomas Moore when he was a student and watched one of Studio Gibli’s films. And so he had to first work hard for a few years on other commercial projects and save money before he could start working on this film which also took a few years to complete. This incredible patience and commitment to the idea makes me awe the creators even more and rewatch their films over and over again, to make sure no little detail goes unnoticed because I know how much time and energy it took someone to create.

Him: Now I have to watch Song of the Sea about Silkies, the director Tomm Moore’s Wolfwalkers looks good too. Apparently I fell asleep during Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner, but that says more about me than the animated film. I love folklore and its creative reinterpretations, and clearly the directors do too.