Song of the Sea (2014 film)

Conor, a lighthouse keeper, lives on an island with his son Ben, his pregnant wife Bronagh, and their Old English Sheepdog Cú. Bronagh disappears late one night, presumably dying after childbirth, leaving behind a daughter, Saoirse.

Six years later, Conor is broken, Saoirse is mute, and Ben is hostile toward Saoirse, blaming her for Bronagh's disappearance. On Saoirse's birthday, they are visited by their grandmother, "Granny," who regards the lighthouse as an unfit place to raise the children. That night, Ben scares Saoirse with a story of Mac Lir and his mother Macha, the Owl Witch, who stole his feelings and turned him to stone. Later, Saoirse plays a seashell horn given to Ben by their mother, leading her to a white sealskin coat in Conor's closet. She puts on the coat and walks to a group of seals in the sea, revealing herself as a selkie. After swimming, she is found by Granny, who insists upon taking the children to the city. Conor reluctantly agrees despite Ben's protests and locks the coat in a chest, then throwing it into the sea.

On Halloween, Saoirse plays the seashell, alerting Færies called "Na Daoine Sídhe" to her. She and Ben attempt to go home, but encounter the Færies, hoping she will allow them to return to Tír na nÓg. However, they are attacked by Macha's owls, turning the Færies to stone. They take a country bus, and run into Cú, who had followed them. However, Saoirse is growing ill. They come across a holy well into which Saoirse dives. Ben follows her and meets the Great Seanachaí: they learn Saoirse was kidnapped by Macha, and she is mute because she needs the coat and will soon die if she does not get it back. He gives Ben one of his hairs that will lead him to Macha. As he follows the hair, it shows him that Bronagh – a selkie herself – was forced to return to the ocean on the night of Saoirse's birth, leaving her husband and the child behind. Since Ben found the truth, the walls of hair open, showing him a way out and to the house. The Færies who turned to stone come alive and warn Ben to avoid the jars, tell him to be careful and brave, and wish him good luck.

Ben then meets Macha, who explains that when Mac Lir suffered from a broken heart, she turned him into an island near their home. She is determined to do likewise for everyone, even herself, believing it will spare everyone of the pain. Ben manages to rescue Saoirse, giving Macha back her feelings and allowing her to recognize that taking away feelings doesn't help. She helps to fly them back home, and Conor attempts to take Saoirse to a hospital; simultaneously, Granny is nearing the island to find them. Ben dives into the sea in search of Saoirse's coat and recovers it with Conor and the seals’ help. Saoirse's coat is put on her, and her voice surprises Ben and Conor. Mac Lir's dogs come to push the boat over, and Conor and Ben are happy with how Saoirse's coat changes her into a little seal. Ben rides on her back and his father rides on another seal's back to Mac Lir's island. The group is then washed up on Mac Lir's island, but Saoirse's health is not fully restored. Ben tries to get Saoirse to sing, and she eventually sings the Song of the Sea. The song causes Saoirse's health to be fully restored, making the magical golden lights which cause the spirits and the Færies to rise out of the stone and travel to Mac Lir. Mac Lir is transformed back into his original form out of the stone and continues with Macha, his dogs, the Great Seanachaí and the Faeries back home to Tír na nÓg.

Bronagh appears to take Saoirse to Tír na nÓg with her, but Ben pleads to let Saoirse stay with them, because she's all they have. Since she is half-human, the choice rests with Saoirse, who elects to remain behind with her father and brother, even though it means giving up her selkie powers and becoming fully human, if Bronagh takes Saoirse's coat to untangle their worlds. Accepting her daughter's decision, Bronagh takes her coat. Conor tells Bronagh that he loves her so much, and they kiss. Ben asks Bronagh to stay as well, but she is unable to and tells him to remember her in his stories and songs and that she'll always love him, before kissing her son's forehead. After a tearful farewell, Ben and his family happily return home to their island, where Granny finally arrives, and Conor tells her he's now well enough to take care of the children.

The original music for the film was composed by Bruno Coulais, in collaboration with the Irish group Kíla. "The Derry Tune" originally featured on Kíla's 2010 album Soisín. The film also features the voice of Lisa Hannigan and songs by Nolwenn Leroy. A soundtrack album, consisting of 25 songs from the film, was released digitally on 9 December 2014 by Decca Records.[14]

Track listing

Song of the Sea premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2014 in the TIFF Kids program.[7] Theatrically, it was released in France, Belgium and Luxembourg on 10 December 2014.[15] It received a limited release in North America on 19 December 2014, which qualified it for an Academy Award nomination.[16] It was released in Ireland on 10 July 2015.[17]

Song of the Sea was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in Region 1 by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on March 17, 2015; it is also available from Amazon Prime and Netflix.

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• Cartoon Saloon

• Song of the Sea at IMDb
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• Song of the Sea at Rotten Tomatoes
• Song of the Sea at Metacritic