Today is a two-movie day, I decided. I also did some reading between the movies (I'm currently in the middle of three different books that I'm go to try to have read in January (good luck with that, Phil)) and planning for my classes this week. It's the last week before finals, so it took a little longer than normal, since I wanted to make sure that I cover everything I need to. But, mercifully, it is over and I can instead turn my attentions to the most important thing in my life at the moment: this blog.
LOL.
In addition to watching the film, I'm also eating popcorn out of the cool popcorn bag-looking plastic containers that Michelle got me for Christmas. Thanks, Michelle!
In my continuing effort to vary the genres and eras from which I choose, I decided to go with my first animated film of the list. Doubtlessly there will be more to follow, especially if PIXAR comes out with another movie this year, though I daresay I've seen most of the animated movies I will ever want to see already. But, there are a couple of subgenres that I'd like to discover more of: European animation and anime. That all brings me to my newest choice: The Secret of Kells, the surprising Best Animated Film Oscar nominee from last year that comes to us from a joint effort of Ireland (where the voice actors are from), France, and Belgium.
The first thing that strikes me is the dramatic and austere animation style; it's visually arresting, and I can tell within minutes that it fits the story itself well. This is not accidental, and it matters not that there's no third dimension. This is not a 3-D movie, and to have pretended it was would done the movie a great disservice. I especially appreciate the technique that's used a few times of the picture being divided into two or more "frames" with different settings, and when the characters are walking, they move into the new scenes. Several of the scenes are also presented in the style of chalk drawings It's pretty neat.
It takes about half the movie for what I assumed the principal conflict was to arise, but I didn't really notice it hadn't happened yet because it doesn't take long to appreciate the characters, the fantasy of the "other" plot(s), and the subtly impressive folksy/native soundtrack. The main character, Brendan (Brenden?) (Brendon?), is a young boy with a great imagination, a wonderful sense of curiosity, and a kind-of-a-crappy life situation (though I've certainly seen worse, even in animated films). And I also didn't mind when 15 minutes later that part of the plot had not yet advanced any further. Again, what I liked so much about the movie was its pitting of practicality against imagination and fantasy.
The movie's synesthesia was something I noticed throughout. It is easy to like and highly regard the use of music and sound to heighten what is going on on-screen, and there were many parts of the film that were complementary in this way: a slow decrescendo when a character is in trouble, a harsh drum tattoo as someone is knocking, the sounds of birds chirping as arrows zoom on the screen-- a recognizable paradox.
The film is slightly macabre at points (granted, it's no The Nightmare Before Christmas) but it's far outweighed by the overwhelming heart of the movie, even if the ending is a little pat.
Overall, it's not too bad a "writing a holy book" allegory, should you choose to see it that way. And from first to last, it is a movie I'd recommend viewing.
Score: 9/10
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