Five stars. Rated PG, for mild peril and fleeting Irish profanity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 1.30.15
There’s an irritating tendency to
believe that quality animated films come only from the United States, an
arrogant assumption that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has
attempted to address — with varying success — since granting such features
their own Oscar category in 2001.
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| Ben, left, unfairly blames his younger sister Saoirse for the absence of their mother, who apparently died in childbirth. But their father, Conor, knows the actual truth ... and it's a secret that he hopes to preserve, lest it also affect his little girl. |
Although domestic efforts still
tend to win the award — and that’s also annoying — the competition nonetheless
has granted welcome exposure to foreign talents such as Sylvain Chomet (The
Triplets of Belleville), Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (Persepolis)
and Hayao Miyazaki (nominated three times, and a winner for Spirited Away).
But a sidebar problem also has
emerged: It can be hard to see some of the nominees, particularly prior to the
Academy Awards broadcast. As I’ve noted previously, the Academy’s animation
branch can be congratulated for recognizing talent outside the United States,
but that cultural generosity hasn’t been embraced by American movie
distributors ... or, for that matter, by American movie viewers.
In 2011, A Cat in Paris and Chico and Rita had almost no distribution throughout the United States. One of
last year’s nominees, Ernest & Celestine, never was released in our local area, having been granted only limited national release and exposure at some film festivals. And although
nothing could have stopped the Frozen juggernaut — which inevitably included
the Oscar in this category — Ernest & Celestine is a far better film on
every level.
Which brings us to this year, and
similar frustrations. Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya played
a few film festivals in October and had very limited release in the rest of the
country ... but only in a compromised version that inserted a new American
voice cast (another practice that I deem horrifying). Good luck finding it.
Irish director Tomm Moore’s Song
of the Sea played for two qualifying weeks in late December, in New York, and
has remained off the radar since then ... until now. The film is making spotty
appearances nationwide, and, starting today, we’ve been granted one screen at
an outlying Roseville multiplex.
Trust me: It’ll be worth the
drive.
And don’t wait, because I doubt
it’ll stay there very long.
Moore may be remembered for
having helmed the delightful Secret of the Kells back in 2009, which also
earned an Oscar nod. He and his crew began work on Song of the Sea that same
year, and the lengthy production time will be understood the moment you
experience the luxurious, absolutely gorgeous hand-drawn art that fills every
frame.
