Film Forum

(2009, Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey) In a 9th century Irish Abbey, the stern Abbot Cellach (voiced by Brendan Gleeson) works to fortify against Viking incursions, while his nephew Brendan gets into trouble on a mission from master illuminator Brother Aidan — newly arrived from the Abbey of Iona — only to be rescued by fairy girl Aisling. Academy Award®-nominated animated fantasy about the creation of the Book of Kells, with a style inspired by the illuminated manuscript. The first in Moore’s Irish Folklore Trilogy (Song of the Sea, Wolfwalkers). DCP. Approx. 75 min.

Reviews

“Just as every margin of the Book of Kells is crowded with minute and glorious decorations, so is every shot of the film filled with patterns and borders, arches and frames, do-dads and scrimshaw images. The colors are bold and bright; the drawings are simplified and 2-D.”
– Roger Ebert

“ LOW-TECH, BUT HIGH ART.”
– Bob Mondello, NPR