Song of the sea
Year of release : 2014
Run time : 1h34m
Genre : Animation / Family / Fantasy
The English spoken animation is a co-production between Ireland, Belgium, France, Denmark and Luxemburg. It is the 2nd installment of director Tomm Moore’s Irish Folklore Trilogy.
Ben’s mother is pregnant, and while expecting, she is painting the room of the baby with him, teaching him fairy songs. One night, before putting him to bed, she gives him an ancient shell her mother gave her. She tells him that by holding it to her ear, he’ll hear the “song of the sea”.
6 years later, Ben has to take care of his sister, Saoirse, who can’t speak. He doesn’t like her, because his mother disappeared when giving birth to her.
On the beach one day, Saoirse sees the seals, and dives into the water. Ben almost drowns trying to get her to the shore.
It’s Saoirse’s birthday, and their grandmother comes to see them. She always tries to convince them to live in the city, as she thinks living near the sea is dangerous for the kids.
Having to wait for grandma’ as she told her not to move until she calls her, Saoirse goes through Ben’s things, and takes his shell.
At night, Saoirse asks Ben to tell her one of their mother’s stories, and he tells her the story of Macha, a witch, who turned the elves’ feelings to stone (meaning, she turned them to stone ), starting with her own son (a giant) who’s tears were flooding the world. Ever since, on Samhain, the elves are hiding from her, as she looks for them through her owls,to turn them to stone! The little girl runs scared, and later,after she plays the shell her mother gave Ben, is led by fireflies to her mother’s chest. She unlocks it, and finds a coat which she wears, and going to the sea, turns into a seal!
It is revealed she is a selkie, a mythological creature which can turn into a seal if they put their seal skin on. As she shapeshifts, and swims with the seals, the elves living in fear of Macha,get word of this from the fireflies.
Her grandmother finds her by the shore, and decides to take the kids to the city, as she thinks Saoirse almost drowned. The kids don’t want to go, especially since their dog can’t go with them.
Her father throws her mother’s chest with the coat / seal skin in the sea.
In the city, Ben wants to go back home. Saoirse follows him, and she is followed by the elves who see in her their savior, for if she sings to them, their souls can ascend, and leave the prison of stone which is their bodies,Macha made for them.
I personally enjoyed the animation. I liked the way it was drawn and the story.
Ben goes from hating his sister to being her savior. They both take this journey of self discovery home, and make new friends, get close to each other, Saoirse finds out who she truly is, and her voice, and Ben realizes he actually loves his sister. Luckily for Saoirse, their mother taught Ben all the songs and stories Saoirse needs to know to help / save the elves .
The voice actors were good. Irish singer, Lisa Hannigan, voices the kids’ mother.
The soundtrack, with Irish influences, was good.
The animation is a cartoon saloon, a combination of traditional hand drawn cartoon (the naif form of art and water colours dominating) and computer generated.
The animation received critical acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 99% score from critics, and a 92% score from the audience! It’s a Metacritic Must See, as it received universal acclaim, with a 85 critics score and a 8.3 user score.
The animation received quite a few award nominations (and won some), including an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature.
Rating : Worth a watch !