The secret of the book of Kells

Movie "The secret of the book of Kells"

Director: Tomm Moore. Music by Bruno Coulais (The Choristes (2004), The Worlds of Coraline (2009), Microcosm (1996), Nomads of the Wind (2001). Protagonists: Brendan, the monk, Aisling, the fairy. It is a prodigy of color and form, of Gregorian and Celtic music, with simple drawing, of circles, rectangles and flat figures. It is not a movie to entertain. It is an artistic product, an incredible work of aesthetic order. It is a work of art. It is a piece of museum, to view it many times, and to be documented from its plot, because it awakens the curiosity to know more. Celtic music is played by the Irish folk group "Kira". There are Irish mythological elements, such as the "Crom Cruach", deity of pre-Christian Ireland, which is in the "cave of the dark". I get the impression that the snowflakes look like Celtic "runes". It is appropriate to say that Irish calligraphy is an art in itself. The film is taken care of to the maximum detail, with amount of symbolic elements, like the crows that accompany the destruction, the Gregorian and the Celtic music.

Set in the Middle Ages, when the Vikings try to invade Ireland. Celtic and Irish mythology appears. It is a journey through the medieval world, with its fears of nature and reason, with the eternal struggle between light and darkness, with the constant threat of ignorance. The film invites us to think that peace comes from within, and certifies the important role of monasteries to preserve culture and faith through books and in this case, a sacred book.

Mentions to the Book of Kells in the film:

• "The book that transformed darkness into light".

• "Immortal pages of sacred text".

• "It is made by angels."

• "If there were no books, you would lose all knowledge forever."

• "People need books that give them hope."

• "To contemplate the book is to contemplate the sky".

• "This book illuminates the way in this dark age".

 To an audience other than these issues, it should be mentioned that the Book of Kells or also called the "Great Gospel of St. Columba" really exists and can be seen on the website: https://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=MS58_003v    It is conserved in the Trinity College of Dublin and is one of the oldest and most beautiful Christian manuscripts (IX century) that are conserved. It contains the 4 gospels of the New Testament, in Latin (this is not mentioned in the film), although some missing pages are missing. The Book of Kells is not the first Latin translation of the Gospels. The Gospels were written in Greek, and the first translation into Latin was the so-called "Vulgate", of St. Jerome, in the fifth century.

The film was nominated in 2010 for the Oscar for Best Animation Film.