literature

Symbolism in The Secret of Kells

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Literature Text

     In the film The Secret of Kells (2009), young Brendan lives in the seventh century village of Kells with his uncle, Abbot Cellach. Brendan wants to help the newcomer Brother Aidan create an illuminated manuscript: The Book of Kells. In the process, Brendan meets forest spirit Aisling and defeats the evil Crom Cruach. Thoughout the film, the animators use a unique animation style of contrasting straight lines and curves to render settings and characters in a way that reflects their contrasting symbolic roles of good and evil within the story.
     One of the most obvious ways this style presents the contrast between lines and curves is found in the settings. When Brendan first enters the forest for ink supplies, the forest is a mix of rounded surfaces and lines, symbolizing the combination of Brendan's feelings of wonder and foreboding at his first excursion beyond the walls of Kells. After meeting Aisling, the forest is made up almost entirely of curves. In contrast, the cave of pagan deity Crom Cruach features stone pillars and statues composed of sharp corners and lines. Even in Kells itself, the animators use cubist-like perspective to emphasize how Kells is a hybrid of curves and lines: the two main features of Kells are the angular central tower and the circular wall that surrounds it. On closer inspection, it can be seen that the houses and scriptorium in Kells are half-spheres, portrayed as semicircles in the two-dimensional, cubist-like style of animation.
     Many animals in The Secret of Kells also exhibit this symbolic representation, the most prominent example being that of the wolves. When Brendan first encounters them and they begin attacking him, the pointed corners of their ears, snouts, teeth, and bodies are exaggerated. When Aisling arrives, they calm down, and though they are still dangerous and therefore retain some of their rigid lines, they also acquire more curves and become sleeker. It should also be noted that Aisling's wolf form is slightly more rounded than the other wolves'. Yet another beast that displays symbolic representation is Crom Cruach. He takes the form of an enormous snake-like creature, though his body, instead of curving like a snake's, turns at angles to itself. When Brendan blinds him, he begins to eat his tail, and becomes trapped, Ouroboros-like, except instead of forming a circle, Crom Cruach is forever trapped in a never-ending square.
      The most general form of good and evil portrayed through animation is that of the Northmen in comparison to the people of Kells. The people of Kells are composed of curved lines and shapes, such as circles or half circles, while in contrast, the northmen are square, with jagged shoulders. This contrast is further emphasized by the diversity of the people of Kells compared to the uniformity of the northmen: Brother Assoua and Brother Tang, two illuminators, look completely different. Tang is short, thin, and Asian, while Assoua is a large African man, yet both are rendered with curves. The northmen all look the same: square bodies, square heads, usually silhouetted to emphasize this.
     One of the most pronounced instances of curves and lines symbolizing good and evil respectively is seen in Abbot Cellach. Before the northmen invade, the Abbot serves as a foil character. While Brendan is enormously enthusiastic about the Book of Kells, Cellach both dismisses the book and though firmly believes in the importance of the wall to the point that he becomes obsessed, shows little actual enjoyment in his fixation. During this time, the Abbot's height is stressed, using rigid lines rather than the soft curves that compose the rest of Kells. After the invasion, Cellach believes Brendan dead, and is reconciled with the idea of the book. Heartbroken by Brendan's presumed death, he clings to a scrap of illustration he took from Brendan. Throughout the remaining scenes of the film, the now elderly Cellach is rendered with softer, more curved lines because he is no longer an antagonist to Brendan.
     Finally, in the Book of Kells, the "book that turns darkness into light", the pages' beautiful artworks depict circles and curves that direct the eye from one part of the image to the next, creating a sense of movement that makes the animation of the image seems almost redundant. The use of curved and rigid lines as symbols of good and evil in the film The Secret of Kells is apparent throughout the film in both characters and settings.

  
An alternate title is "This is What Happens When I Get Bored."

Unfortunately, not being an art student, I don't really know the words to describe elements of style and animation, but this is the best I can do in that respect.
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TwistedMidnightDream's avatar
I like it~! I totally didn't notice the wolf thing, way to go self.

(You didn't mention the fact that during the invasion everything gained perspective, but that might not be symbolism and I'm just a huge derp.)