Film Review - Song of the Sea

Song of the Sea is the latest offering from Cartoon Saloon, the makers of The Secret of Kells. It tells the story of Ben (David Rawle) whose sister Saoirse begins acting strangely after she comes across an old shell. When the two are sent to live with their strict grandmother (Fionnuala Flanagan), Ben learns that his sister is in fact half-selkie (part-human, part-seal) and is needed to stop all the fairies of the world from being turned to stone.

 

The most striking thing about this film is of course the animation, which is simplistic and yet gives the story a wonderfully surreal touch. This especially comes into its own when we meet the supernatural characters such as the long-haired Seanchaí, the fairies and Macha, the film's villain. Although the flat Medieval look can be a little off-putting, especially whenever there's a landscape shot, the animation can still run wild when the story needs it to and gives the film a distinct charm that you wouldn't get from a 3D-animation.

 

The film boasts a vivid cast of characters that add to this. It's not afraid to show Ben in an unpleasant light when he traumatises his 6-year-old sister with their mother's stories, but manages to show his later redemption completely organically. Saoirse also has a distinct presence as the innocent child figure – as she's mute, the animation is once again called on to convey this to us, showing the animators are just as skilled at nuance as they are at spectacle.

 

There are some familiar voices in the supporting cast. Brendan Gleeson is excellent as their solemn father, while John Kenny and Pat Shortt provide a lively contrast with their mythical roles. Despite being a fairytale, I was glad that the film didn't have a simplistic morality and instead used a villain that was motivated through misunderstanding instead of evil. While the film isn't “scary” as such, the recurring concept of losing your emotions is a genuinely disturbing one, and is made more so through the metaphor of being turned to stone.

 

Finally as an Irish citizen, I was delighted to see the film incorporate some Irish into its soundtrack, especially through its haunting selkie leitmotif. Bruno Coulais and Kíla (who often perform through Irish) give the film a beautiful soundtrack that blends perfectly with its animation and performances.

 

Song of the Sea is, in short, a wonderful film for all ages.

Book Review - Inversions (Iain M Banks)

In Inversions, Iain M Banks explores the ambiguity of history through two parallel storylines taking place on a distant planet. The mysterious Dr Vosill tends to a king's health while struggling against the prejudice of his court. On the other side of the world, a bodyguard named DeWar also tries to keep his master safe from assassins and traitors.

The most fascinating thing about this story is its exploration of form. Like A Song of Stone, Banks tells a story through an unreliable narrator, causing the reader to question what they're being presented with. The narrator here is Vosill's assistant, Oelph, who's been sent to spy on her and becomes infatuated with her. His duplicitousness, his feelings for Vosill and his classism all compromise Oelph's account. One question that kept occurring to me was “Why would Oelph divulge his attraction to Vosill to his master?” Another confusing aspect of this narrative is that Oelph alternates between the second and third person when referring to his master, which makes the account seem contradictory and at times nonsensical.

While this at first came across as bad writing, I soon came to appreciate that that was what Banks was trying to convey: the narrative is being written by a person, not a dettached omniscient being. Therefore it's riddled with faults, as real historiographies often are. Oelph's prejudice and hypocrisies are so stark and make him seem so unpleasant at times, that it felt like Banks was actively trying to discourage the reader from taking Oelph at his word and instead try to imagine alternative scenarios. What makes this part of the novel feel so vivid is that its flaws and ambiguities reflect real human nature. This part of the novel thus feels almost alive and not static like a more conventional novel.

As well as Oelph, Vosill is also an intriguing character. Because we only see her through Oelph's eyes, it's left up to the reader to imagine her motivations and background. She gives Oelph a vague account of her life, and the story all but tells us who or what she really is by the end, but the reader is still ultimately left in the dark. Despite this vagueness, Banks still gives us a good estimate of her character, showing her to be more compassionate, perceptive and ultimately devious than those around her. Through Vosill, Banks shows that there can be an alternative to the violent, bigoted society on display here. I felt this was certainly needed given how intense the novel becomes.

Curiously, DeWar's segment is written in a conventional style. We have a third-person structure, no hints of the supernatural and DeWar himself is surprisingly transparent given the duplicitousness of everyone around him. It's probably for this reason that I didn't find this part of the book as gripping. DeWar spends a lot of time bonding with his Lord Protector's son and with Perrund, one of his harem. I found these parts of the novel a bit too sentimental for my liking. DeWar also spends a lot of time telling fables of two cousins, which suggests a link between the two narratives. However, I felt these segments dragged on for too long and that we really only needed one of them, whereas Banks has three.

This plotline does however end with an interesting twist which ties in with the theme of deceit. Characters' motivations are revealed and our perceptions of them are shown to have been wildly innaccurate, which corresponds well with the novel's ambiguity; the history (or backstory) we've been led to believe up until this point is shown to be false. The novel thus ends on a suitably unclear note and I was left wondering not only how certain characters ended up, but even if there were more skeletons in closets that had not been revealed. Banks however keeps his mouth shut on this issue, and I feel the novel was much stronger for it.