4/5 Song of the Sea Big Hero 6 won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars last month, but that was only because all of the other better pictures canceled each other out and let the most mediocre film win. Alongside big studio fare like Big Hero and How to Train Your Dragon 2 were two smaller foreign films. One was the enchanting The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which I reviewed last month. The other was Song of the Sea, a lovely rendered Irish tale about a young girl named Saoirse with magical powers who, along with her brother, must save the spirit world. It sounds fantastical, but it is rooted in human emotions that keep you grounded through the more whimsy parts. The film begins not by introducing us to the main girl, but her brother Ben. Ben paints and listens to his pregnant mother telling stories about mystical warriors and magical women who can tame spirits. Something horrible happens, leaving Ben a bitter brother. In the present time, Ben can barely stand the presence of Saoirse. The main journey, presented to us in luscious, hand-drawn visuals, is that of how Ben learns to love his sister as both a connection to their mother and a person all her own. It is a moving tale that could appeal to people of all ages. The film was directed by Tomm Moore, the Irish director behind 2009’s similar The Secret of Kells. If I had one complaint with the film, it is how generically told the story is. I will be the first to admit that the visuals, and the score by Bruno Coulais, are perfect in every way. So perfect, in fact, that it seems like Moore is relying too heavily on his art team. There are no sections that are boring, necessarily; but only once or twice does the narrative ambition reach the heights of the visuals. | Director: Tomm Moore Starring: Brendan Gleeson Writer: Will Collins |
Isao Takahata did a far better job of weaving the narration into the delicate pictures he was drawing. Nothing in Song of the Sea is as poignant or moving as Princess Kaguya. That film ended with both hope and devastation, two contradictory emotions that ended up complementing each other and the story. Song of the Sea has the emotional range of your average Dreamworks movie. What Dreamworks does not have is Adrien Merigeau.
Merigeau is the unsung hero and savior of this movie. It is not her fault if Moore can’t keep up with the ambition and artistry. She is firing on all cylinders, painting every last frame with luscious detail and the slightest dash of melancholy. I do not mean that her animation is depressing. What I’m saying is that nothing reads overly bubbly. The frames tell stories of their own; sometimes somber, sometimes joyful, and everywhere in between. For these reasons, you absolutely can not miss Song of the Sea.
(Available on iTunes)
Merigeau is the unsung hero and savior of this movie. It is not her fault if Moore can’t keep up with the ambition and artistry. She is firing on all cylinders, painting every last frame with luscious detail and the slightest dash of melancholy. I do not mean that her animation is depressing. What I’m saying is that nothing reads overly bubbly. The frames tell stories of their own; sometimes somber, sometimes joyful, and everywhere in between. For these reasons, you absolutely can not miss Song of the Sea.
(Available on iTunes)