New "never heard of it Oscar nominee" Trailer Friday

The Secret of Kells

Films nominated for Oscars that 99% of the movie going population have never heard of is certainly no new concept.  In fact, one of the biggest complaints about the Hollywood ceremony is that the Best Picture category tends to consist of films almost exclusively unknown outside the art-house cinemas of New York and Los Angeles. 

The Best Animated Feature category usually consists of the latest Pixar film and a rare gem from Dreamworks Animation Studios, but it is not immune to this problem of "the unknown contender" (I doubt many had heard of Miyazaki's Spirited Away before it won an Oscar in 2003).  When this year's list of animated feature nominees was released, it was for the most part inline with expectations, a nominee for Pixar's near-shooin UP, Disney's return to 2D animation The Princess and the Frog, Wes Anderson's quirky stop motion Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Henry Selick's magical Neil Gaiman adapation Coraline.  However, attached to the list was a film that caught even the most devoted members of the press completely off-guard, an unknown called The Secret of Kells.

Much like the animated Iranian memoir Persepolis, the most obvious reason for this film's lack of visibility is its foreign production, a film funded and produced across the Atlantic in Ireland.  However, unlike Persepolis, which made waves at American film festivals and premeired in limited release throughout the United States prior to its bout with the invincible Ratatouille, The Secret of Kells seems to be missing one important point:  it has yet to be publicly screened in the US at all.  And though it is scheduled to play in the US at the IFC Center in New York, it will do so to just one theatre and a mere two days before it competes for Oscar gold.

The producers of the film are not strangers to being the awkward new-comer at the Academy.  The French production firm Les Armateurs were also responsible for the 2004 nominee The Triplets of Belleville, a movie whose nominated song amused audiences with the prominent use of the musical bicycle and the musical vacuum cleaner (I kid you not).  That said, I fear much like the artsy, foreign Triplets, Kells will meet a similar end, as few can live up to a strong showing by the folks at Pixar, and UP is as strong a showing as they've had in a long time.

The premise of the Irish animation is strongly influenced by the ancient of art of illuminated manuscripts, flat 2D drawings which decorated works of literature by the Christian monks.  The film appears to take that odd, skewed perspective art style and give it life, animating characters in the form of their illuminated manuscript inspirations.  The film doesn't stop its fascination with the ancient art there, as the characters are not only drawn in the manner of monastic tomes, but the story itself is about a group of monks trying to protect their sacred works from invading Vikings.  Of course there is a bit of magic and mischief overlaid, as a young lad receives help from friendly forest sprites as they attempt to protect the titular Book of Kells, a particular manuscript with the power to turn darkness into light, a secret well worth protecting.

I have found that as I have grown older, my love for animation has not waned in the slightest.  In fact, I think my appreciation for the art form has only grown over time.  So despite being blind-sided with the rest of film-press by the appearance of this utter unknown, and despite the fact that I will have to wait till after the Oscars to see it, I anxiously look forward to my own chance at unlocking The Secret of Kells.