“I’ve lived through many ages
Through the eyes of salmon, deer and wolf
I have seen the north men invading Ireland
destroying all in search of gold
I have seen suffering in the darkness
yet, I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places
I have seen the book,
the book that turned darkness into light…”

These are the opening words to what is a most remarkable film – Tomm Moore’s The Secret of Kells. The Secret of Kells is no mere animated film…it is an illumination. Appropriately so for it is based upon the creation of what may be arguably called the single most beautiful work of human hands to ever have been created – the book of Kells. The book of Kells is a hand-written illuminated copy of the New Testament’s four Gospels completed by Celtic monks cica 800 ad and imbued with a strong Celtic sensibility literally woven throughout more tradition Christian iconography. It is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Ireland’s national treasures.

The story centres on the monastic community of Kells in Ireland during the age of the Viking raiders. The order has let its scriptorium (the place where the copying and illuminating was done by the monks) become a lesser priority as the abbot works the community feverishly to build high walls and a gate around the monastery. The task is ostensibly to keep out invading Vikings (north men as they are called in the movie) but it becomes apparent that the abbot is trying to protect and hide him and the monastery from the world.

Into the midst of this construction comes Brother Aiden, fleeing from the destruction of the abbey at Iona and bringing with him a brilliantly illuminated text he calls aptly called the book of Iona. Aiden befriends the abbot’s nephew, the young orphan Brendan (voiced brilliantly by Evan Mc Guire). We’re never told much of the back story of the abbot or Brendan but that works fine in this film and allows the imagination to contribute to the success of this compelling story.

Brother Aidan brings the book of Iona into the scriptorium of Kells in order to continue working on it and enlists the assistance of Brendan to secure for him some berries from elm trees in the forest. Brendan agrees though he has been forbidden from the forest and, in fact, has never left the abbey. As Brendan and Aidan’s cat Panger Bon (another refugee from Iona) wander into the forest they get predictably lost (although this does not diminish the film at all) and meet the apparently young girl Aisling (pronounced Ashlyn and voiced fabulously by Christen Mooney) who is a forest spirit of some sort and who’s voice is the one speaking the film’s opening words. It is at this point the tale takes off.

The film combines a powerful and provocative story with deep themes of light overcoming darkness, courage, friendship and struggle. There are clear Celtic pagan undercurrents to the film but in no way does one feel as though this story is an attempt to reassert a pagan paradigm over and above the Christian one which has developed in Ireland for more than a millennium. Rather there is a sense that the story is telling us a little about the subtle ways Celtic culture wound its way into Christianity. Some have been critical of the ancient church’s attempts to co-opt pagan culture but with Ireland it seems a little more like the Celtic in some way inspired a deeper and more thoughtful Christian spirituality than can be found elsewhere. To this day more than a thousand years after its construction the monastery at Iona continues to offer Christian’s a place for deep spiritual contemplation and renewal. I am not suggesting the film presents a kind of syncretism whereby Christianity and Celtic paganism combined to create something new. Rather in the spirit of C.S. Lewis who spoke of “shards of God’s truth” being found throughout creation we see a beautiful and nuanced Celtic informing of Christianity that would help it see its faith in some brilliant and remarkable ways (the symbol of the infinite God in the unending Celtic knotwork; the Trinity as seen in the shamrock and the trefoil interweaving Celtic designs etc). Most striking one cannot avoid the comment spoken as voiceover in the beginning of the film by Aislyn when she says “I have seen the book, the book that turned darkness into light…” There is also another message that comes out hinting that the book (whether the book of Kells specifically or the more broadly Bible we’re not sure…perhaps both) “was never meant to be hidden away behind a wall, locked away from the world which inspired its creation…you must take the book to the people so that they may have hope, let it light the way in these dark days…”

 Your ears will be treated to some absolutely amazing Celtic music (Aisling’s song is sung with a beautiful innocence) as well as Medieval Latin hymning and of course, most importantly, incredible visuals. The film is animated in what is becoming known as “the old style” of 2D hand drawing and inking (although there are times when you can see CG was used). Done by Cartoon Saloon based out of Kilkenny, Ireland the style of animation is stunning and quite frankly required given that the story is really about a hand illuminated work of art. The Secret of Kells is refreshing in an age where most animated films are moving toward CG and 3D (except for some notable brilliant anime films from Hayao Mitazaki’s Studio Ghibli and other exceptions like Disney’s recent The Princess and the Frog).

As much as the story is riveting it is the animation that is really the main character and keeps one riveted to the screen. Clearly heavily influenced by the book itself there is also heavy Celtic influence apparent as well as Norse. The animation style and colour changes as the mood of the film changes and in many instances it is almost as though you are peering into an illuminated work of art rather than watching a movie. There is an amazing scene in which Brendan, Brother Aidan and Panger Bon are fleeing and the animators chose to present them as though they were moving through a triptych (three paneled picture). This technique also allows for a very creative showing of the passage of time. At other times the action is framed as though moving on the pages of a book. The animators fill the edges of the frame with smaller moving images reminiscent of illuminator’s work both rough and finished in nature and while some might consider this a distraction it works very well with the overall feel of the movie.

Overall the film is one of the greatest animated features I have ever watched and, as much as I appreciated (loved really) the movie Up from Pixar, The Secret of Kells should have won the academy award for best animated feature film. You will want to watch this film over and over again on your own, with friends or with family because it is simply spellbinding.  

Wheaton Theology Conference Trip – Day 1

It is VERY EARLY Thursday morning. I’m sittin in the railway station, got a ticket for my destination…so to speak. The doors were unlocked at 11:42 pm but I waited in the van till about 12:05 am after a few other people went in (don’t like to be the first for some reason). Anyhow the first thing I noticed when I went in was the train information board behind the counter and two specific pieces of info about the train I will soon be taking to Chicago (enigmatically named the Empire Builder…hmm). The first piece of info was comforting – the train is due at 12:52 am, right on time. The second piece of info was not so comforting – the train will arrive at 2:05 am…not so comforting.

So now it is 12:25 am and I am sitting in a reasonably comfortable seat in the train station with my laptop appropriately placed upon my lap(top) and writing my woes into a Word doc for future posting. Not in a billion years do I expect the train will have wifi (unless I can leach of someone’s unsecured mobile device) so I expect my first post will be Thursday night sometime.

Please file the following hopeful agenda under the category – The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men. My hope was to arrive in Chicago at 3:55 pm Friday (which would be right on time). However it seems to me that the best we can do at this point is about 5 pm unless of course they actually speed the train up which I doubt.

From the train station in Chicago I go across the street to catch the $4 commuter train to Wheaton, Illinois and I have absolutely no idea how long that will take. I wanted to arrive at Wheaton College by 5 pm because that’s when registration starts. Why is that so important? Well the first 400 people to register receive a free tote bag and two free books and I am just the kind of guy to REALLY want that free stuff regardless of what it is. You’d think 10 years in the software industry would have cured me of wanting free stuff since you were always being loaded up with things at conferences and tradeshows…but no such luck. Those years probably made me greedier somehow (one year I got a free colour Palm mobile device…another year Pokemon Monopoly…you should have seen the line of techie nerds for the monopoly game).

As I write this there are four people in the train station with me (all men). A guy reading something off of what looks like a Sony e-book (jealous), another guy just came in so make that five. There’s a guy listening to his iPod in the corner, a guy sitting to my left in front of me and the ticket guy back in the office somewhere. The station itself is small…about the size of my house. Most of the interior is a shade of tan (tan brick walls, reddish tan tile floor and although the ceiling is a drop white tile ceiling the fluorescent lights reflect off the floors and walls giving it a tannish look too…except near the vents which have left charcoal black blast patterns in four directions on the tiles all around them. The floor is fairly dirty with hair, dirt, stains and food crumbs everywhere…a mop has not been passed in a looong time (note to self – if food is dropped on floor do not eat).

Can you tell I am bored? If you have made it this far in the post then good for you, your stamina is praise-worthy.

This place is absolutely quiet. Nobody is talking to anybody. Kind of like a giant elevator. Nobody looks at anybody either (except for me but I have to for reasons of creative license). When I said this place was quiet I was wrong. Nobody is talking but there is a loud vague humming/thrumming coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It is the sound of machinery, lighting, food vending machines etc. all doing their various jobs.

In case you don’t know the whole point of this trip is for me to attend the Wheaton Theology Conference. I have mentioned it in a few places over the past several months. The title of this year’s conference is Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright (I can tell by the background noise that the train station attendant has turned a tv on in the backroom). One of the reasons I am here is that N.T. Wright is my current theological hero. Secretly I want to get my picture taken with him but don’t tell anyone. More secretly I’d like him to autograph his latest book which I am reading but once again that’s between you and I. I know a few people who will be at the conference so that is good and one of the hosts was a prof of mine at Tyndale Seminary. He’s now associate dean of theology at Wheaton College and I’ll be hooking up for coffee if he has the time. The other two are the president of the denomination I am a part of and our denominational evangelist (who I really don’t know that well).

Back to the hopeful agenda. The commuter train takes me straight to Wheaton College and when I get off I will head straight to registration where I will hopefully NOT find out I am the four hundred and first person to register. From there it’s a short two block walk to the house where I am renting a room for a spectacular $35 per night. I found out about the place through the college housing board.

Two more guys checked in and a woman has wandered in as well. So far everybody who’s checked in is going to either Minneapolis or Milwaukee…I’m the only one going to Chicago.

I brought my camera for the trip. I have travelled pretty extensively in the past but I rarely took pictures of any of the places I have been because they were primarily business trips and I didn’t want to look like a tourist. I have decided this time around I don’t really care if I look like a tourist so expect a few pics at some point.

Well that’s about all for now. It’s 1 am and another woman just came in with a ticket for Milwaukee. Sony e-reader guy is still going strong and one of the other guys here has taken out a PSP and is playing some games. I might write a little more on the train but it all depends on where I’m sitting etc.

BTW – if any of you see Nick Clayson on Sunday at church tell him that it wasn’t until April 15 at just after 1 am that Pete remembered her was supposed to e-mail him details of the trip and conference…pass on my profuse apologies.

It is 10:30 am and I have been on the train now for about eight and a half hours. I slept off and on till about 7 am which seems to have been enough. I had a decent breakfast of eggs and corned beef hash in the dining car and most importantly – coffee. The train itself is spacious with large seats and I was actually able to stretch out a bit for sleep. I have an electrical outlet near my seat which lets me keep my travelling companions charged.

The Mississippi River has been racing alongside us for several hours now as we head south toward Milwaukee. Looking to the skies above the river and you see the odd bald eagle or a flock of pelicans. The land is variously rolling and rocky and beautiful dotted from time to time with small rusty towns. Right now we’re moving through Winona, Minnesota, which is neither small nor rusty but actually a very nice looking community bounded by the Mississippi to the east and high forested cliffs to the west. The view from the train when driving through a town is interesting because you see the backside of things. The rear ends of buildings and businesses. The parts of properties that people generally don’t care about because they are not seen by anyone save the train passengers. Winona is actually not a bad looking little town with nice wood siding, clapboard homes and where gas is currently $2.78 per gallon. We have actually stopped in Winona to pick up passengers. The train has barely come to rest and already dozens of passengers have burst outside to frantically light cigarettes and cram as much nicotine as possible into their systems before they are forced to breath only fresh air for another sever hours. Even now they are already returning to the train having tossed have finished butts to the ground and as they pass they bring with them the stale sickly-sweet smell of smoke and fresh air mingled together in an unholy mix.

Before I put away the laptop for a while one final note about the urban landscapes. There are American flags everywhere. Homeowners, businesses, schools etc all are likely to have the flag in front. These are the things that remind you that you are no longer in your own culture. It all looks similar, the people all look similar as well…but there are significant differences beneath the surface that poke through like iceberg tips in the shape of flags or gallons or Fahrenheit or unknown accents.

2:36 pm – We are in Milwaukee now for a brief stop. We crossed the Mississippi at about 11:10 am this morning and began our trek east across Wisconsin welcomed into the new state by the city of La Crosse. The landscape has become greener and greener the further we go with the rocky hills smoothing out to rolling farmland. Leaving Milwaukee you have to roll through a sort of industrial harbor front wasteland and then once clear of that you begin to pick up speed as you move toward the outskirts and beyond.

There are two more stops until Chicago and although the train left Grand Forks an hour late it will apparently arrive in Chicago right on time (which is cool). The train ride has been pretty peaceful so far. I have made no new friends, which is no surprise as I tend to hermit myself into my seat and turn inward (the introvert within me). The alone time has been good as it gives time for prayer and builds a desire to hear from God. As much as I am interested in the conference and meeting/seeing N.T. Wright I am more curious to see and hear what God may be up to through this time. Of course He’s always up to something but I am not always watching or listening.

I really don’t expect other updates to be nearly this long (which I am sure is a relief to you) as I won’t have the luxury of 14 hours to craft them but I’ll do my best to keep you informed. I will pack up the laptop for now and don’t anticipate unpacking it again until I am safely hidden away in my room.

7:52 pm – Well I am finally here at Wheaton. I got off the train in downtown Chicago and then walked two blocks to the commuter train called Marta and took that train to Wheaton. I registered and received my free books and bag (yaaaay) walked over to the house I’m staying at and set myself up in my room, took a shower (wow that was awesome) and wandered back over to the college to take some pics and post this update. The fellow who I am staying with is a retired Moody Bible Institute Professor – Dr. Foos (yes it rhymes with Dr. Seuss which is pretty much amazing).

Anyhow – that’s it for today. I plan on sleeping spectacularly tonight so I am fresh for a long day tomorrow. Stay tuned.