Bewitched by this eerie tearjerker: Song of the Sea is a beautiful, moving tale 

By Libby Purves For The Daily Mail

Published: 19:41 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 19:56 EST, 9 July 2015

Song of the Sea

Rating:

Verdict: Beautiful, moving Irish legend

The Irish Song Of The Sea is gorgeous: a wild western sea and a lonely lighthouse, a strange, half-human selkie child with the mournful eyes of a seal. Tomm Moore’s animation makes Disney look tawdry and obvious.

Scroll down for video 

Irish animation Song of the Sea is a beautiful, moving Irish legend, says Libby Purves

Irish animation Song of the Sea is a beautiful, moving Irish legend, says Libby Purves

Ben is the son of a lighthouse keeper, his mother — a seal-woman — sang the old songs before disappearing into the sea at the birth of his mute sister Saoirse, pictured.

The children are drawn into the world of the ‘Other People’: fairies who need their help. Some are sinister, some comic. 

Ben, a child of grief, defies the owl-witch Macha who says life is too sad to endure. She sends Saoirse into a coma to ‘save her’. 

Ben must bring her back to life, so she can save both the fairy world and the human family.

It’s a lovely, serious, beautifully drawn tale. When at last the selkie-child finds her voice, the eerie beautiful air actually made me cry.

 

Comments (1)

Share what you think

The comments below have not been moderated.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now