Rainy day movie review number three! Omg this was amazing!!!!

now I know i promsed  review on despicable me next, in my defence it will be  coming soon lol .now that we have that out of the way let me explain what happened. I had most of my christmas shoping done early in the season but still found myself wondering up and down the aisles of best buy searching for aditional christmas treasures. I was about to give up on this yet to be fruitful search, when a blue ray caught my eye. it was a cute cover with female eyes popping out from underneath some leaves . I emidiately had my irish alarm going of for this,which looked like a leaf man from irish and celtic legend.


upon review of the package i discoverd that the story does take place in a place named kells and tells a fantastic story of how the legendary book comes into being as well as having a wolf girl and a norse invasion! well it sounded like this film was right up my ally. nominated for an academy award it touched on my heratiage on more than one front, so it was a must have . for my son of course......


well the wait was on and i was in the middle of a night with insomnia when i decided that i would open the movie for something fresh to watch and possible inspiration for some art. i was imediately thrown into this world with stunning cinematic quality from camera angles that reveald even live action film and music that would even make non riverdancers do the jigg. i watched the film from begining to the end drooling . i was actually bumed when the film came to an end and then watched it with a fantastic commentary track. well that is that. now i will hit the details some more.

the film starts in the Abbey of kells during the ninth century in ireland. The head monk known of course as an Abbot, goes by the name of Cellach. His primary focus is to wall his city and keep it safe for he is sure that the norse will make their way with the viking hord and level his beloved city and destroy his people and their faith. Now enter the main charachter of this story the young monk and nephew of the abbot, Bredan.

the other monks tell eachother and he viewer a tale bot the fabled book of Iona a book that is so pure that it could blind the unfaithful . the monk  Aidn, ( looks just lke willie nelson) that is in charge of creating this book is forced to flee his home to kells for the pagan viking hord has destroyed his home and are on their way. there is growing fear that he might not be able to finish the book or that the book could be destroyed by the hord.

Aidan sees a special innocence emminating from our hero and asks for his assistance with the book. brendan sneekes out of the city's walls and deep into the forest where he meets one of the coolest characters i have seen in a long time: Aisling the wolf  fairy. she helps brendan in his quest with the berries used to paint with, but he has to promise not to enter her forest again for she is afraid that he will be devoured by some of the beasts and spirits that live within. he agrees to this bargain.

brendan's uncle aidan becomes furious and is ready to almost topple his own wall of faith by forbidding brendan from further assisting Aiden with the book, despite the warning from the old monk that he believes the book is needed for the survival of civilization. this adds a great conflict between the faithful and the desire to make fortifications and survive the attack.  this makes a fantastic thought pop up in my head and that is that, faith is not just a protector of man but at the same time can be the last refuge and comfort for some. this dinamic of conflict between aiden, cellach and brendan is amazing as well as the fairy world and myth being brought into this. that aspect is one of the most amazing parts of the celtic legacy presented in this film.


well that would be a great point for me to change to the next subject... this film was the most amazing and beautifuly drawn film. it rivaled all the disney classics but yet had the elements of modern cartoon favorites like samurai jack or fairly odd parents. the style really is submersed in traditonal art styles mixed with discriptions of fairies and spirits of the old world. this includes the harsh black and red colors used for the vikings and there ominus presence including the classic horned helmet. the film can be enjoyed by both sides of my people. it has a strong christian message but yet the pagan magic and fairies are great.


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  I thought that this tale was complete, artistically unmatched  . the character developement was lacking in  some areas but was made up for with this overall masterwork.
well,   must say that this is a sweeping tale of  faith , magic  and human a.nd fairy spirit  it s a  must see and  I did leave out some parts of the story so,  you still have a surprise or  two.
 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0485601/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells


 
here is some artwork: