Song of the Sea, an Irish production, is a tale about Saoirse (pronounced "Sear-sha"), a Selkie, and her brother Ben. They live on an island off the Irish coast with their father, who works the local lighthouse. Their mother passed when Saoirse came, and their father mourns her still. Saoirse is mute and her abilities unknown until a day when the sea calls her. She's an impressive little girl. Not only can she turn into a seal, but she can set fairies (turned to stone) free if she can sing "the song of the sea." She can do this, though, only while wearing a special coat which gives her voice, and the owls (led by a witch) are determined to stop her and keep the fairy world in stone. Can Saoirse set the fairies free . . . and what will it mean if she can?
Beautifully animated (and by hand, to boot), haunting in places, this is a good film. Some plot elements (especially symbolic components) lost me . . . but it was a captivating story nonetheless (with some hauntingly enchanting music). It has distinctive roots in both Irish mythology and (to a lesser degree) religion. I look forward to The Secret of Kells, an earlier work in the same vein by this studio.
Rating: A-
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