Song of the Sea (Amhrán na Mara)

Dir: Tomm Moore

2014

****

Tomm Moore's simple but magical tale Song of the Sea is a beautiful and refreshing animation full of joy and originality. It follows Ben (voiced by David Rawle), a 10 year old Irish boy who lives with his father (voiced by Brendan Gleeson) and younger sister on a desolate lighthouse. Although he looks after her (with his adorable Sheepdog Cú), Ben blames his young mute sister Saoirse for his mother's death after she died in childbirth having her. Ben and his father had become distant with each other since and soon both children are taken away to live with their no-nonsense grandmother in Dublin. However, young Saoirse soon discovers she is different and Ben discovers it too. Together they find clues regarding their mother and discover that Saoirse is in fact the last of the selkies. Selkies are seal folk in Scottish and Irish culture. They are said to crawl ashore at night, and change into beautiful ladies and handsome men with seductive powers over humans. "Selkie" comes from the Scottish word "silche" (seal) and they are said to inhabit the islands above Scotlandd: Orkney and Shetland. Additionally, in both Scottish and Irish mythology, female selkies can marry humans if a human man hides her selkie skin, but they may gaze lovingly out to sea. If the skin is found, then they must return to the sea, even if they already have children; with their skin, they will instantly turn into a seal when they step into the ocean. Saoirse feels compelled to go to the sea to free the fairy creatures trapped in the modern world by the Celtic goddess Macha, and Ben decides to help her. Director Tomm Moore states that the film is based of several aspects from his childhood. The film is set in October of 1987, which Moore remembered as rainy, and windy. Some characters also relate to Moore's family and pets from memories, pictures, etc but by and large the film is based on Irish legends. The few lines at the very beginning of the movie ("Come away, O human child!/To the waters and the wild/With a faery, hand in hand,/For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.") are from "The Stolen Child" by Irish poet William Butler Yeats, who was also a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival. Indeed, the film is a celebration of Irish culture, a side that not many people outside of the Emerald Isle may be aware of. The animation is full of colour but kept very simple. It's all hand-drawn, which is quite remarkable and it was rightly nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015. It's a beautiful fantasy, one that all kids will love, full of charm and adorable characters.