Come away o human child,
to the waters of the wild,
with a faerie hand in hand
for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
'Song of the Sea' is a 2014 film written by Will Collins and Tomm More, and is directed by the later.
It received a lot of critical praise, including an Academy nomination but was passed over for 'Big Hero 6'
Part of the reason, I believe, is because here in the United States there wasn't much attention given to it.
It only played in select cinemas and advertisements were sparse.
Which I think is criminal because I love this movie.
So what is it about?
Well, at its simplest: a brother-sister/human-selkie tag team trying to get back home to avoid catastrophe.
At its most complex?
*DEEP BREATH*
a celtic mytho-amplification of grief's manifestations and ramifications on a familial unit, with emphasis placed on the developing behavior of an adolescent mind.
Zapp Brannigan: Kif, old friend, let's rap.
The movie starts with a tragedy and a birth.
It then cuts to six years later where we see the main character Ben with his little sister Saoirse, playing by the sea.
Ben is revealed to resent Saoirse & shows this by denying her their mother's stories and conch.
But considering it's Saoirse's birthday and Ben's being a bit of a dick,
Saoirse (like any good little sister) takes the conch anyway and plays it—where she discovers its magic and her own.
That is, she's a selkie
which is like a mermaid only...not really
since selkies can go from seals to humans at will by shedding their coat.
Traditionally, this usually leads to some shenanigans when a human discovers the coat and hides it to make the selkie their sexual slave.
Only this is a kids' film and that part of the mythology has been eschewed
...thank god...
in favor of showing us this really cool sequence where Saoirse frolics under water.
Sadly, moonlight swims aren't exactly smiled upon by the kids' visiting Granny,
who emotionally manipulates her still grieving son into giving up his children.
Neither kid is happy about this but since Ben can actually talk he's more demonstrative about it;
especially since leaving means abandoning his dog, Cú.
Granny: stubborn boy.
But like all homeward bound movies, it happens anyway and off they go towards Dublin.
Where the closer they get the more we the audience realize it's Halloween, or Samhain.
And for those of you who don't know, Samhain is a liminal time in the celtic calendar where
the veil between this world and the next thins,
allowing faerie folk to rub elbows and raise hob with the humans.
Which is worth mentioning because when Saoirse plays the conch,
the gathering lights garner the attention of the resident Good Folk,
who kidnap her (and by proxy her brother) to inform her of the selkie's responsibility to the daoine sídhe, or 'people of the mound.'
This all comes as a surprise to Ben, but since it lines up with his plan to return home,
he decides to help the fairies by helping Saoirse find her missing coat.
For which, they get attacked by a bunch of owls controlled by a nefarious being called Macha.
But Saoirse is able to fend them off and the movie gets a quest.
As time passes, however, Saoirse grows increasingly weaker until the Owl Witch is able to carry her off.
While trying to get his sister back, Ben meets the Great Seanchaí
whose character design is based off a real seanchai named Eddie Lenihan.
Eddie Lenihan: anybody who tells you these things [faeries] don't exist, doesn't know what he's talking about.
And for every hair he has—there's a memory or story to go with it.
And those that are still growing are the ones still going,
which means he knows Saoirse is alive, and gives Ben a hair that will lead him to Macha.
Ben follows the hair through a stream of consciousness and to the root of his resentment,
which is day his mother vanished.
Connor: Bronagh?
Young Ben: Mom?
Ben: *whimper*
From which he realizes that Saoirse was not responsible for their mother's departure,
but he is for his actions against her (Saoirse).
And I would argue that withholding affection is an action.
Ben made a choice,
no matter how young and understandable it may have been,
he still carried it out with the intent to hurt.
Maybe not physically but emotionally.
He blamed a baby for his mother's absence, and judging by his reaction he knows what he did was wrong.
This is a beautiful catharsis.
By confronting the problems of his past he is able to rise above it
...literally...
to help save his sister.
And this is where the story goes from good to great.
While it's been hinted at before, this scene in particular confirms that the myths are exaggerated mirrors for the adults.
Just look at the interior of the crannog. Shot for shot it's the same set up as their Granny's house.
Even the song on the radio is the same.
Which is how Macha seems on first blush:
like a kind old lady.
But by filling the home with visual reminders of her ethnic cleansing,
it really adds to the dichotomy that was established in the previous shot:
a storm outside but calm inside.
Warm even, if not welcoming.
But to see the jars strewn about is very off-putting.
Especially when Ben steps into Macha's shadow expecting threats, but is greeted by a very soft spoken and kind creature.
Macha: *sputtering* Don't take me for a fool!
Until she's not.
But credit where credit is due
Masha came close to turning Ben into without ever having to trick him.
Which shows you just how consuming grief can be.
That is, all these characters are coping with grief in various ways.
Ben through his anger, Connor by shutting down,
and Granny in becoming a well intentioned but ultimately toxic busybody.
All of which are unhealthy and manifest themselves onto Saoirse,
who never knew her mother except by the emotional fallout her absence has inflicted.
Yet, none of this blatantly explained the dialogue but can be inferred from the characters interactions
making it a prime example of "show, not tell" storytelling.
Which, in my opinion, elevates the movie,
not only in terms of tension but character development for both sides.
Especially Macha, who up until this point we haven't even seen on screen,
but has been referenced as a villain whose stressor for genocide was euthanizing her son, Mac Lir.
The mirror of Connor, the kids' father.
the Great Seanchaí: Macha sent her owls to take his suffering away.
They're even paired together geographically
where one man is made out of stone and the other is, emotionally, becoming it.
Still, there's a lot that's not really shown in the film
but I think needs to be said in Connor's defense.
Like...how losing a spouse and becoming a single parent over night
is one of the hardest things anyone can go through.
often it requires placing your children's needs above
and, sometimes, at the cost of your own.
Meaning, it's probable Connor never gave himself the chance to grieve
and as a result, he became like stone.
Emotionally apathetic but trying for his children.
Which would explain why Saoirse seeks out Ben (and not their father) to learn about her mom.
Not only are they closer in age
but unlike their father, Ben's not hurt by the memory of Bronagh
...he's comforted by it.
Yet possessive.
Ben: That's mine! Mom gave it to me, not you!
So it makes sense that towards the end of the film when Saoirse is given a choice between this world and the next
it's not automatic that she would stay with her family
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Back to Macha,
we find out that she's self-medicating
which is a boon to Ben since it makes her slow up the stairs.
Ben tries to break Macha's jars to free her emotions
but only magic can defeat magic.
Ben: Sorry Cú.
When Ben presents Saoirse with the conch to do just that,
she's too weak to play it.
And rather than put pressure on her, knowing it could be their last minutes on earth together,
Ben instead tells Saoirse it's not her fault,
and gives her the one thing she's always wanted
their mom.
They're about to die and he's comforting her with their mother's song.
This is beautiful
and, perhaps, my favorite scene in any film.
When Saoirse does play the conch,
all of Macha's pent up emotions are released in a magical maelstrom
that doesn't kill the Owl Witch, but saves her.
Which is not only a fantastic message
but a feast for the eyes. Just...
Macha: stop it!
It's-it's stunning. Just...stunning.
Macha: STOP IT!
Repentant for all the harm that she's caused,
Macha gives Cú a moment that all children have secretly yearned for—
the ability to ride our pets like valiant steeds.
*runs nobly yet swiftly*
However, when they get back to the lighthouse and discover Connor has thrown away Saoirse's coat,
Ben completes his redemptive arc by confronting his biggest fear.
The thing that took his mom.
Ben: I can do this
Water.
For him to take off his jacket and dive in is a huge testament for how far he's come.
And once he's in the sea he's accompanied by a cadre of seals who help him find Saoirse's coat.
After which the entire family comes together to save the daoine sídhe
culminating in one of the prettiest animated sequences I have ever seen in 2D.
And the way it's choreographed to the music
bridges it all together setting the stage for the final scene of Saoirse choice.
Having been raised by an emotionally crippled father
and ignored by an angry brother,
Saoirse has every reason to go to Tir Na nÓg with her mother,
but she doesn't.
And here's where having a cursory knowledge of Gaelic
...or Google
comes in handy because Bronagh
the name of their mom
literally translates to sorrow
and Saoirse means freedom.
This is huge
because even though Tomm Moore has gone on record saying
he picked the name Bronagh because it was his mothers,
I'm going to quote Joss Whedon and say
(See above)
and boy howdy is this worthy
Back to the metaphor.
It is the family's inability to cope with grief that instigates the kid's journey.
When Connor throws Saoirse's coat away, he is in essence denying his daughter her mother.
A spiritual connection to her heritage that Saoirse needs in order to find her voice
(and place) in the family.
Something that was exacerbated then by Granny
who displaced the kids in Dublin.
and Ben who weaponized their mother's stories to frighten Saoirse away from them
But by taking up the quest to save Saoirse
(and the history of Ireland general),
the past was exposed,
Ben matures, and Conner finds closure.
As a result, Granny can stop worrying
which, I believe, was fueling her busy body behavior.
Thus Saoirse frees her family from the sorrow of her mother's memory.
Not by obliterating it
but by embracing it.
So in conclusion, if you're one of those people looking at this film for accurate depictions of Irish mythology
...don't.
Allow the story to be and trust that it's better served for it.
*le gasp*
Because once you do, what you are left with is a damn near flawless movie.
One with seamless animation, soulful storytelling, and a wonderful score.
The only bad thing I can say about it really is...
I wish I had seen it in theaters.
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