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 is the second feature film by Cartoon Saloon in an international co-production between the Republic of Ireland, with The Big Farm of Belgium, Nørlum of Denmark, Superprod of France, and Melusine Productions of Luxembourg, The film is the second instalment of Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy", following his previous film The Secret of Kells (2009) and preceding the film Wolfwalkers (2020). It is also the only one to be set in relatively contemporary times, specifically the 1980s, as the other aforementioned films take place during the early Middle Ages and the 17th century respectively.

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 Cartoon Saloon films, the animation is a combination of traditional hand-drawn and computer-generated types, with a domination of the stylistically naïf form of the first being dominant. This follows the style set in The Secret of Kells, with it mainly appearing with a flat or 2-dimensional aspect, but also incorporating some 3-dimensional image modelling. Aptly, the imagery of the animation is composed in the form of water-colours, especially in the backgrounds and in the narrative flash-back scenes.

The film began production soon after the release of The Secret of Kells, 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 won the Satellite Award for Best Animated or Mixed Media Feature and European Film Award for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as the nominations for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards and 42nd Annie Awards.

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
In 1981, Conor, a lighthouse keeper, lives on an island off the north-west coast of Ireland with his wife, a selkie maiden named Bronagh. After bearing a human son named Ben, the couple expect a second child, but Bronagh disappears after giving birth to their daughter Saoirse at sea.

Six years later, Conor dotes on the mute Saoirse, while Ben is resentful of her, as he associates her with his mother's disappearance; his sole companion is the family's Old English Sheepdog, Cú. On Saoirse's birthday, the children are visited by their Granny, who regards the lighthouse as an unfit place to raise the children. That night, Saoirse plays a seashell given to Ben by their mother, and is led to a white sealskin coat inside Conor's closet. Donning the coat, Saoirse goes to the sea and transforms into a selkie. After swimming, she is found by Granny on the seashore, and the frightened Conor locks the coat in a chest and throws it into the sea. Granny takes the children to her home on the Mainland in Dublin, with Cú staying at the lighthouse. Along the way, Ben draws up a map of the route, and on the eve of Hallowe'en or Samhain he and Saoirse run away from Granny's home to return for Cú [lit. Irish: hound / dog].

Saoirse again plays Ben's seashell and is abducted by a trio of daoine sí, taking her to their lair underneath a bushy roundabout. The daoine sí rejoice at Saoirse's appearance, hoping that she can return them to their homeworld if she sings her song while wearing her coat. However, their jubilation draws the attention of owls belonging to a witch named Macha, who had turned the other daoine sí to stone by sucking their feelings out of them. The owls attack the shelter and turn the daoine sí to stone, but Ben and Saoirse escape. The children make their way toward the lighthouse to retrieve Saoirse's coat, and are reunited with Cú, who swam across the strait in pursuit of them.

During a rainfall, Ben and an ailing Saoirse take shelter in a hut, in which Saoirse falls into a holy well. Cú and Ben pursue Saoirse, but Ben gets lost and emerges in a cave inhabited by the Great Seanachaí. Through strands of the sage's beard hair, Ben sees the story of the giant Mac Lir, who cried out in a terrible fit of grief and threatened to flood the world. Macha, Mac Lir's mother, was unable to endure her son's anguish and thus deprived him of his feelings, turning him to stone. Finding Saoirse's whereabouts through another strand, the Great Seanachaí tells Ben that Macha has kidnapped Saoirse and that if Saoirse does not wear her coat and sing her song by dawn, she and all other magical beings will die. Ben follows one of the Great Seanachaí's beard strands to Macha's lair, where Saoirse has nearly been turned to stone.

Ben, in his encounter with Macha, learns that the grief-stricken witch seeks to save others from suffering and sadness by turning them to stone just as she had to Mac Lir. Macha herself has partially been turned to stone as she encloses her own strong feelings within enchanted glass jars. Ben encourages Saoirse to play the seashell, which breaks the jars and returns Macha's feelings to her, restoring her kindness. Macha helps Ben, Saoirse and Cú return to the lighthouse, riding the wind, with the aid of two spectral hounds of the air.

As Saoirse is exhausted and near death, Conor attempts to take her to a hospital on the mainland, unwilling to heed Ben's explanation. Ben resolutely dives into the sea alone to retrieve the cloak, and unlocks the chest with the aid of a group of seals. Saoirse puts on the suit and begins to sing, which frees all magical beings from their petrified state. As the beings depart for their homeworld beyond the sunset, Bronagh appears before the family and considers taking Saoirse with her. However, Saoirse makes the decision to forsake her coat and magical abilities to remain living with her human family.

English

 * David Rawle as Ben
 * Brendan Gleeson as Conor and the 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 the Mac Lir
 * Fionnula Flanagan as Granny and Macha
 * Gráinne Bleasdale as Bronagh
 * Fionán Farley Nolan as Saoirse
 * Maurice O'Donoghue as the Great Seanchaí
 * 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

Scottish Gaelic

 * Kathleen NicAonghais as Ben
 * Dàibhidh Walker as Conor, Mac Lir and Rock Shee
 * Donna Nic 'Ille Mhoire as Macha
 * Catherine Tinney as Saoirse and Young Ben
 * Màiri Nic 'Ille Mhoire as Bronagh
 * Ailig Dòmhnallach as Ferry Dan and Lug
 * Anna Mhoireach as Granny
 * Iain MacFhionghain as Mossy and Bus Driver
 * Iain MacRath as Spud and the Great Seanchaí

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 Derry Tune" originally featured on Kíla's 2010 album Soisín. 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
The world premiere of Song of the Sea took place as the TIFF Kids children’s event of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival celebration on 6 September 2014. 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
Reviews for Song of the Sea were 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 an approval rating of 99% based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Song of the Sea boasts narrative depth commensurate with its visual beauty, adding up to an animated saga overflowing with family-friendly riches." 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".

Home media
Song of the Sea was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Region 1 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on 17 March 2015.

It was later included in the Irish Folklore Trilogy Blu-Ray box set in the US and UK/Ireland along with The Secret of Kells and Wolfwalkers. GKIDS and Shout! Factory released the Region A box set in North America on 14 December 2021, while StudioCanal released the Region B box set in the UK and Ireland on December 20.