Remember when you first put your ear up to a shell to hear the sea? Remember the magic you felt when you really heard the sea from within that shell? That same magic is the driving force that enlivens and sustains Song of the Sea. This film is a bedtime story whose pages turn effortlessly for the viewer. After visiting a world that is suffused with fairies, witches and selkies, one can’t help but despair of returning to the so-called ordinary and hum-drum of daily life. But this film stirs a hope that maybe there is a deep magical undercurrent that supports and enlivens all of God’s good creation. The characters in Tomm Moore’s Song of the Sea, have their eyes opened to the fact that magic courses through all of the seemingly mundane aspects of their everyday lives.
But do not be fooled, while the story itself is mythic in nature, the themes are oh so real. This is a film about love, suffering and finding hope while standing at the brink of utter hopelessness. A film that begins with a young son being abandoned by his mother does not set the stage for a lighthearted tale. Song of the Sea addresses the question, “When severe loss finds you, what will you do?” Downing another pint, popping another pill or simply putting distance between oneself and haunted locales will never allow healing to occur. Song of the Sea is a stunningly animated, mature exploration of authentic grief.
Song of the Sea is also a unique visual feast. You might recognize the stylized animation from The Secret of Kells: the geometric shapes and the intentional use of color to express deeper meaning. In The Secret of Kells, art director Ross Stewart fills the forest with brilliant greens and earthy browns. To set a stark contrast, he then fills the church tower with stark black walls. In a similar way, Stewart juxtaposes color in Song of the Sea. The closer the characters find themselves to the ocean, the deeper and richer the colors. But as the kids are driven further and further from the sea, the colors become lighter, dryer and more washed out. While I enjoy films that use computer graphics, I am thankful for filmmaker Moore’s decision to employ a gifted animator whose pen is inarguably distinctive.
The Book of Kells, the central manuscript in The Secret of Kells, is an illuminated manuscript. Through intricate and artistic drawings, its authors attempt to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who could not read the printed word. We hear the word of God with our ears, but a lesser-appreciated fact is that we can also see it with our eyes. The level of craftsmanship and sheer beauty that exists in the world of Song of The Sea fills me with awe and wonder.
Music also plays an integral role in the film. At the very beginning, we hear the mother Bronah (Lisa Hannigan) playing the song of the sea for her son, Ben. This song functions as a character throughout the film. Wherever it is played, dead stone is turned back to living flesh. But while the notes offer some level of healing to the spirits that are caught in a sort of purgatory, only when the song is sung by the last selkie, Ben’s little sister, Saoirse, can the wrong things be made right. Saoirse learns the words to the song of the sea through oral tradition. Ben sings the song to Saoirse, as his mother sang it to him when he was a baby. This song is not learned through direct, divine inspiration, but through mouths of tooth and flesh. If this song is to be learned, it must be shared. The so-called ordinary graces of familial love turn out to be invaluable and more powerful than once was imagined. While the shared song has the power to breathe life back into that which was dead, the sea can also take away as well.
While thinking about this film, a verse from Ezekiel came to mind. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). As the Sea both gives and takes away, it is a picture of our Father God. But this same God sends the Holy Spirit to enliven our hearts and enlighten our darkened minds. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the fact that we are not self sufficient and that we need to be receptive to one another if we are to thrive in this world. There is a song to be sung and a gospel to be shared.