Song of the Sea (2014 film)

Song of the Sea (Amhrán na Mara) is a 2014 animated fantasy film directed and co-produced by Tomm Moore, co-produced by Ross Murray, Paul Young, Stephen Roelants, Serge and Marc Ume, Isabelle Truc, Clement Calvet, Jeremie Fajner, Frederik Villumsen, and Claus Toksvig Kjaer, and written by Will Collins from Moore's story. It was an international co-production from Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, and Luxembourg, and is the second feature film by Cartoon Saloon.

Song of the Sea follows the story of a 10-year-old Irish boy named Ben (David Rawle) who discovers that his mute sister Saoirse, whom he blames for the apparent death of his mother, is a selkie who has to free faerie creatures from the Celtic goddess Macha.

Like other Saloon films, the film was hand-drawn. The film began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells (2009), premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September in the "TIFF Kids" programme. The film had a limited release in certain countries, but received acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards in 2015.

The Irish-language version has been produced by Macalla with funding from TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, with selected cinemas in Ireland screening it from 10 July 2015. Brendan Gleeson and Fionnula Flanagan reprised their respective roles in this version. The DVD with the Irish audio can be bought in Cartoon Saloon's online store.

Plot
Conor, a lighthouse keeper, lives on an island with son Ben, his pregnant wife Bronagh, and sheepdog Cú. Bronagh disappears late one night, presumably dying after childbirth, leaving behind daughter Saoirse.

Six years later, Conor is broken, Saoirse is mute, and Ben is antagonistic to Saoirse, blaming her for Bronagh's disappearance. On Saoirse's birthday, they are visited by their grandmother, "Granny". That night, Ben scares Saoirse with a story of Mac Lir and his mother Macha, the Owl Witch, who stole his feelings and turned him to stone. Later, Saoirse plays a seashell horn given to Ben by their mother, leading her to a white sealskin coat in Conor's closet. She wears the coat and walks to a group of seals in the sea, revealing her as a selkie. After swimming, she is found by Granny, who insists upon taking the children to the city. Conor reluctantly agrees despite Ben's protests, and locks the coat in a chest, throwing it into the sea.

On Halloween, Saoirse plays the seashell, alerting Færie to her. She and Ben attempt to go home, but encounter the Færie, hopeful that Saoirse will allow them to return to Tír na nÓg. However, they are attacked by Macha's owls, turning the Færie to stone. They take a country bus, a run into Cú, who had followed them. However, Saoirse is growing ill. They come across a sacred well that Saoirse dives into. Ben follows and meets the Great Seanachaí: They learn Saoirse was kidnapped by Macha, and she is mute because she needs the coat, and will soon die if she does not get it back. He gives Ben one of his hairs that will lead him to Macha. As he follows the hair, it shows him that Bronagh – a selkie herself – was forced to return to the ocean when Saoirse was born.

Ben then meets Macha, who explains that when Mac Lir suffered from a broken heart, she turned him into an island near their home. She is determined to do the same for everyone, even herself. Ben manages to rescue Saoirse, giving Macha back her feelings and allowing her to recognize that taking away feelings doesn't help. She helps to fly them back home, and Conor attempts to take Saoirse to a hospital; simultaneously, Granny is near the island to find them. Ben dives into the sea in search of Saoirse's coat, and recovers it with the seals and Conor. The group is then washed up on Mac Lir's island. Saoirse's coat is put on but her health is not fully restored. Ben tries to get Saoirse to sing, and she eventually sings the Song of the Sea. The song causes the Færie to rise and travel to Mac Lir. Mac Lir is transformed back into his original form and continues with Macha, his dogs and the Faeries back home to Tír na nÓg.

Bronagh appears preparing to depart with Saoirse, but Ben pleads to let Saoirse stay with them. Since she is half-human, the choice rests with Saoirse, who elects to remain behind with her father and brother, even though it means giving up her selkie powers and becoming fully human. Accepting her daughter's decision, Bronagh takes her coat, Ben asks Bronagh to stay as well but she is unable to. After a tearful farewell, Ben and his family happily return home to their island, where Granny finally arrives, and decides the children can stay with their father. Ben and Saoirse reconcile and become friends.

English

 * David Rawle as Ben
 * Brendan Gleeson as Conor and Mac Lir
 * Fionnula Flanagan as Granny and Macha
 * Lisa Hannigan as Bronagh ; Ben and Saoirse's mother
 * Lucy O'Connell as Saoirse
 * Jon Kenny as Ferry Dan and The Great Seanachaí
 * Pat Shortt as Lug
 * Colm Ó Snodaigh as Mossy
 * Liam Hourican as Spud and Bus Driver
 * Kevin Swierszcz as Young Ben
 * Will Collins as Additional voices
 * Paul Young as Additional voices

Irish

 * James Ó Floinn as Ben
 * Brendan Gleeson as Conor and Mac Lir
 * Fionnula Flanagan as Granny and Macha
 * Gráinne Bleasdale as Bronagh
 * Fionán Farley Nolan as Saoirse
 * Maurice O'Donoghue as the Hairy Man
 * Donncha Crowley as Lug
 * Niall McDonagh as Mossy, Ferry Dan, and Rock Shee
 * Tomás Ó Súilleabháin as Spud and Bus Driver
 * Ríona Farley Nolan as Young Ben

French

 * Jean-Stan DuPac as Ben
 * Patrick Béthune as Connor
 * Nolwenn Leroy as Bruna
 * Nathalie Homs as Granny and Macha
 * Cyrille Artaux as Lug
 * Pascal Sellem as Spud
 * Thisbée Vidal-Lefebvre as Young Ben
 * Marc Perez as Mossy

Music
The original music for the film was composed by Bruno Coulais, in collaboration with the Irish group Kíla. The film also features the voice of Lisa Hannigan and songs by Nolwenn Leroy. A soundtrack album, consisting of 25 songs from the film, was released digitally on 9 December 2014 by Decca Records.


 * Track listing

Release
Song of the Sea premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2014 in the TIFF Kids program. Theatrically, it was released in France, Belgium and Luxembourg on 10 December 2014. It received a limited release in North America on 19 December 2014, which qualified it for an Academy Award nomination. It was released in Ireland on 10 July 2015.

Box office
The film has grossed CN¥15 million in China and US$857,522 in the United States and Canada.

Critical response
Early reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Todd Brown, founder and editor of Twitch Film, gave a highly positive review of the film, saying that "a tale that weds absolutely gorgeous artwork with beautifully nuanced characters and a deep but natural rooting in ancient folk tales and magic, Song of the Sea has an assured and timeless quality to it. It is the sort of story that feels as though it always existed somewhere, just waiting until now to be told". "Song of the Sea is not about selling units, it's about story and heart and emotion and wonder and craftsmanship and because of that it becomes timeless, a beautiful piece of art that will delight audiences old and young and confirms what many suspected of Moore after Kells: The man's a master storyteller, and we can only hope he has many, many more stories to tell."

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 99% and an average rating of 8.4/10 based on 88 reviews. On Metacritic the film has a score of 85 out of 100, from 24 reviews.

Writing in the Toronto Review, Carlos Aguilar said of the film: "Watching Song of the Sea it is easy to assert that this is one of the most blissfully beautiful animated films ever made. It is a gem beaming with awe-inspiring, heartwarming magic".

Sara Stewart from the New York Post said "If you want some real cinematic magic this holiday season, don’t miss this enchanting Irish film about a pair of siblings and a piece of Celtic folklore that turns out to be true".

An animator Ken Priebe found in the film a lot of influence of Hayao Miyazaki, in particular, the scene on the bus is similar to the scene on the train from Spirited Away, and the owl witch looks like Yubaba from the same film.