Ancient Beauty/Modern Aesthetic
As we firmly ground ourselves in the near present with Walker Percy's The Moviegoer, it may be that time in the semester to honor his protagonist's habit. I highly recommend checking out The Secret of Kells. It's an animated film unlike any I have ever seen before filled with all those lovely Catholic elements of questing, conversion, and grace. If you gave up tv/movies/youtube for Lent, pull a post-Vatican II Catholic move and watch it on Sunday (not saying that's what I did, but I do enjoy my Sundays). 
I just saw this post and have to comment-I love this movie so much! I think it's absolutely beautiful. I first watched it because I was interested in the plot/historical aspect of it. I was taking a Nordic and Celtic myth class and one thing we briefly addressed was the Irish preservation of knowledge and history through illuminated texts-how despite conversion to Catholicism they maintained much of their celtic culture through the arts. where do you think all those knots and circles came from in the Celtic cross? In the end, I didn't find the plot of the movie to be nearly as exciting as the illustrations used to depict it. bottom line though-watch this movie!
ReplyDeleteThanks Renee for posting this. It is truly a beautiful film, and I agree completely that the animation is fantastic, and much better than the actual plot! Great comment, Brijit!
ReplyDeleteThe film is visually stunning and unique. It's a real tribute to their ability to use an old-fashioned, hand-drawn type of animation (in today's world of computer-generated animation, etc.)
That said, one thing kind of bothered me -- the story is about a book called the Book of Kells, and they keep talking about how the book will bring light to a dark world, but they never specify what the Book of Kells actually *is*! The truth is, the Book of Kells is the book of the Christian gospels, beautifully illuminated by the Irish monks of the middle ages. You can see the real Book of Kells today at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland (if any of you find yourself there, don't miss the chance to see it - it's truly beautiful).
I suppose the filmmakers were trying to appeal to a secular audience, so they downplayed Christianity. But of course, the reason the monks thought it was worth illustrating so beautifully is because they believed it to be the word of God! And in doing this, they created a beautiful synthesis between the older, pre-Christian Celtic traditions of art and the beliefs of Christianity. This goes to the heart of an important belief of Catholicism - anything that is good, or true, or beautiful in other religious or cultural traditions isn't seen as in opposition to Christianity. Since God is the ultimate source of all that is good and beautiful, anywhere we find beauty, it ultimately points us to the same God who the Christian missionaries preached about.
Wow! I was looking for a cool animated film to watch. Thank you, Renee :)
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