SONG OF THE SEA is a new Irish indie animation from Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon. Like its predecessor THE SECRET OF KELLS, this philosophical fairytale adventure uses the sight and sound of ancient mythology to explore themes of grief and loss: straddling the worlds of mundane modern-day and fantastical Faerie.
As in KELLS, the main characters in SONG are a feisty little boy and a magical girl: in this case a Selkie, or seal-child. Ben and his sister Saoirse, a cute mute with a shell flute, live in a lighthouse with their grieving father (Brendan Gleeson) who lost the will to craic when his wife died giving birth to Saoirse. The little girl finds a seal suit in a Narnian cupboard, and her first courtship with her new underwater chums convinces her father that it’s not safe by the sea. Saoirse and Ben’s grandmother whisks them to the sad sanctuary of the drab mainland, where the man-made Catholic iconography of the parlour and the city skyscape form a mundane carapace, with unexpected chinks: on Hallowe’en, a portal opens in a mysterious, leafy traffic island which, we learn, is home to fairy folk known as the Daoine Sidhe. They need Saoirse’s help to restore all those cursed with petrification – not just the mini menhirs in their hidden fort, but also perhaps the children’s father, whose despairing hulk is echoed in glorious pathetic allegory by a cliff formation near the lighthouse. Moore’s mythical underworld and grand seascape are rich with such pareidolic easter eggs, enhancing his broad and brave exploration of grief and release.
SONG has drawn comparisons to the Studio Ghibli canon, but the artistic style owes more to retro animation trends such as the design-heavy vector art of Genndy Tartakovsky, or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: its abstract-expressionist aesthetic is softened by watercolour washes and a steady, meditative pace. What SONG shares with Miyazaki’s work is its charismatic tranquility: for all its touches of slapstick and playful spirit, this is one of the few modern animated films which know how to truly intoxicate by allowing its characters and its audience to breathe.
SONG OF THE SEA will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on November 9th.
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