The Secret of Kells--A Medieval Example of Christian Art

In my Faith, Film and Culture class, we recently watched the film The Secret of Kells, a 2010 Irish-made movie based on the true story of the creation of the Book of Kells. The story revolves around a young Celtic boy, Brendan, who lives with his uncle, a no-nonsense abbot, in the walled city of Kells. Brendan desperately longs for purpose and adventure outside of the city walls, but is restricted by his uncle, who demands that he stay inside the safety of Kells. However, once a famed illuminator named Aidan of Iona comes into the city claiming that Viking hoards are hot on his tail, Brendan is secretly enlisted in helping Aidan construct the Book of Kells, a book that was said to "bring light to the darkness." This book (pictured here) is a real seventh-century book, comprised of the four Gospels of the New Testament with illuminated pages.

The Secret of Kells is easily the most visually stunning film I have ever seen. Created and designed to look like an illuminated text, this film shows how literary text and visual film can be combined. Several characters of the movie were given strange features and proportions so that they would look like illustrations of people from texts. Also, the planes that the characters were placed in in the frames often had borders, making the frame appear as if it were a page from an illuminated text. I found this to be an absolutely astounding expression of art in the film.

Ultimately, this film is a strong recreation of the evil that faced the early Christians. The people of Kells are attacked--and ultimately slaughtered--by hoards of malicious Vikings that burn down everything in their path. While the people of Kells are illustrated in either bright or neutral colors, the Vikings are illustrated in colors that are dark, mysterious, and harsh. Illustrating these characters in such a way really allows the viewer to empathize with the terror that the Celtics felt when the Vikings were invading. It truly was horrifying.

Overall, The Secret of Kells is probably the best movie I've seen in a very long time. It made me chuckle, it made me think, and it also made tears stream down my face. If a movie can do all of those, I'd say that it's a success. 

Rating: A+