Book of Kells (2018)

Well in their defense a primer for fantastical stories makes for a more interesting animated movie than a historical examination of scribal practices.

I think the intention was both to share a lot of Irish folklore and the tumultuous times where that book was made in the era before Ireland became as Catholic as most of us were used to thinking of it as. The idea that something beautiful could come out of the violent Viking era is a pretty powerful concept for a filmmaker, and the art style shows that the makers weren’t rejecting their Celtic heritage.

You're telling me that a 9th century young monk didn't defeat the pegan god Crom Cruach, steal his eye and use it to write the Book of Kells?

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As a less sarcastic response: the movie is about the atmosphere / setting of dark-age Ireland, drawn in the style demonstrated by the Book of Kells (a book from those centuries).

One of the wonders of the book is that whoever wrote it seems to have had a magnifying glass, as many designs are enlarged objects. But magnifying glasses were not yet invented. Maybe they had a different technique involving water bubbles or something in the 9th century to see the incredibly intricate drawings of that book. Or maybe they independently discovered magnifying glasses and kept it secret somehow. Who knows?

But going ham by saying "Oh, they stole the eye of the pegan god and used that to help write the book" is quite epic and excellent storytelling. Its obviously ahistorical but a cool story nonetheless.

And its one cool way of acknowledging one cool mystery of that book.

European Christianity in many ways was integrated with the local mythologies and mysticisms of the peoples who took it up. For example, the magic in infinite knotwork became Christian prayer in the new framework. It's not so far-fetched to see the illumination of the Book of Kells as being in direct continuity with the pagan heritage, and the message of the film seemed to me to be the exposition of that relationship, and of how that relationship was used in evangelization.

The Vikings themselves were eventually pacified by the same evangelization, and social integration into the new Europe.

Noted!

The Breadwinner was a rough watch. Not Grave of the Fireflies level, but dealing with very heavy subject matters. Like an animated Kiterunner.

No that’s something else.