Song of the Sea [Blu-ray + DVD]

When I first saw this film while browsing through prime video, I was first drawn to the astounding high review with so many reviewers. Afterwards I rented it, and when I finished, I bought it. For all those who are looking for a kids film with beautiful artwork and a deep story, this is the thing for you.Artistry- First of all I'd like to say that I loved the style of drawing in this film. Every scene was beautifully done and helped bring the story forth while revealing the characteristics and emotion of each character. Also the expressions of each character were so vivid and revealed the inner feelings of each character which really draws one into the film.Music- The music for this movie really draws you in. The voice actors also did a phenomenal job in giving each character life.Story- The story line was phenomenal, even though this is a kids movie, there wasn't much of the cheesy stuff you would normally get with kids films. This film also is not loaded with dirty humor or any of the other random references that fills many of todays kid film. It is touching story that is worth the time and experience of any who wish to see something simple but beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful animation and story! I absolutely adore this movie. It is beautifully made and has an absolutely magical story. I would recommend this to anyone. I love when I can watch a movie with my kids and enjoy it myself as well.

This is a truly beautiful retelling of an old folktale. The animation is truly a work of art and the music is about the most captivating ever! Highly recommend!

We've been dealing with a bit of sibling jealousy from my son (5), the older brother. He happens to look a lot like Ben and my daughter(3), who is (I presume) the same age difference between the siblings in the movie. When I watched this movie with my son, he was completely absorbed from the start. I could see the emotions on his face throughout the movie and asked after it finished how he felt about it. His face became pensive and after a moment he said it made him happy and sad. I asked why, and if he felt like when his sissy was born if he felt mommy was "taken" from him and he replied yes. We watch this movie regularly.

this is such a amazing film and it is definitely one of my favorites. the atmosphere and aesthetic are top tier. and I just love the animation and art style.

Let me get this out of the way first.The visuals were great. I enjoyed this style of drawing and animation. Everything was really cute and pleasing to the eyes.The sound and music designed were great as well. In essence it was a semi-musical adventure, wear singing was the main topic, without going into a musical (which, this movie greatly benefited from). That really matches the semi-slow pacing of this story as well.The voice acting... was okay. Though this story was about a song, it really benefited more from its animation than its voice acting or singing, which was quite average.I was annoyed at the child... but its to be expected, since the plot itself is sort of cliche (big brother hating little sister, then changes). Quite predictable plot really, but that is not what makes it good.The story itself, along with the sound and music design and the visuals make this a great movie.And its about a seldom talked about subject in english culture... irish lore. (I think. I don't really know anything about European lore).So everything goes great until the ending.***Spoilers***I don't know if I missed something while watching the movie, but why do they have to leave the world again? Was there a purpose for them leaving? I don't really understand why they had to leave. There was pretty much nothing that touched upon it. So it makes no sense why, in the end, everyone ended up leaving. If its because of some spiritual life force that can't exist in this world, then it would be best to be explained.Why do the worlds need to be separated? Is this some pre-Korra avatar stuff? Do they die in this world? But it appears that singing solves everything, so all they would need to do is sing every now and then. They had physical bodies before. Wait, does that mean their dead, and are pure spirits?If that is so, that this ending is kind of depressing. Everyone "died" anyways, despite the daughter's effort to save everyone, so they had to leave anyways, neglecting the whole point of the plot. And they had to leave anyways. Why didn't the mother do this earlier? Clearly she still had her Avatar powers to connect the spirit and material world, thus opening a gate for all the spirits to go in.And wait, doesn't the daughter need the coat to talk, or did she become pure human, since the coat was destroyed? I missed that part in the story, because I was completely stuck upon wondering why everyone had to leave.And, why are they dying? Because they are losing their power? I don't really know, its not explained. Why would they come to the human world if they were going to come here knowing that it was a one way street, ending with death, even in their spirit form? That would mean that it wasn't like that before, so what changed since then? Can't they change it back, so that they don't "die" in the material plane?Do I have to know actual irish lore to understand this? Then I refuse, because such an explanation should be in the story, even if its the mother telling the story to the child.Uhh.. I don't really understand. Why. Why are the fairies in the human world. Why does the Selkie have to avatar everyone back to the spirit world? And why the hell does the Selkie have to go with them? Because she is their queen? It appears they would still be connected anyways. I mean, her mother probably did the same thing. So does that mean, there is an endless cycle of all the spirits moving to the human world, and the selkie singing them back to the spirit world? What would even be the purpose of doing that? Does that mean this is the last and final time spirits can cross over (because based on the prologue scenes, it seems that they have been doing this for eons)?These are questions that are never explained, and I would never care to find out the answer to because they were never elaborated in the movie.tl;dr Aside from a "nitpick" that I consider a major plot failure (or hole as some would call it, but I consider it a failure because how this is answered would completely deny the premise of the story). It was a good movie. Great story (minus some plot), great sound and music design (though the acting was lacking, except for the prologue voice acting), and cute and beautiful visuals and styles. I would recommend this.The best parts where the dialogue-less scenes.

Song Of The Sea is one of those films that was always destined to garner recognition from awards and devout cinephiles, but not necessarily for general cinemagoers. But make no mistake, this is a film absolutely worth seeing regardless of age. I found it absolutely stunning - it has a gorgeous 2D art style and invokes memories of films by Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. It manages to be both fun for viewers of all ages and also teach you a little bit about Celtic mythology, while also getting you to hold back tears by the end.It's a beautiful tale that rarely puts a foot wrong, and while I still enjoy big animated Disney films and more modern 3D animated features, Song Of The Sea proves why independent more old-school animation deserves as long a life as possible.

Exquisitely beautiful,sweet, touching and funny. This wonderful film stands with head held high alongside the best animations from across the globe. The hand-drawn charm is particularly to be welcomed nowadays - although computer-generated animation is also capable of beauty, there remains a real magic in something drawn by hand. The story, derived from the well-known Celtic legend of the Silkie (Seal-woman), deals gently with the process of grieving as two children deal with the aftermath of the loss of their mother and try to go back to the home from which the well-meaning have removed them, and is steeped in creatures of Celtic legend, who are having a bit of a rough time of it in the modern world. It is a must-see for anyone who appreciates film as art, anyone with children (it is funny, it is magical, it is sad, it is healing), anyone who wants to support independent voices in cinema.

Just watched this beautiful film. I have read the reviews of two or less and I do not agree. Yes one could compare it to Studio Ghibli due to its subject matters of nature, spirituality, children and folklore. However stylistically it is so different in the way the film has been designed. Studio Ghibli is very polished animation and Song of the Sea is soft watercolour, more simple in its rendering using a softer beautiful colour palette.Studio Ghibli films are Japanese/Asian in tradition, Song of the Sea is based on Irish and Scottish folklore. Ponyo in some ways is crude and certainly not the best of Miyazaki's creations and hints of Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. I agree Totoro is a great classic film and Miyazaki understands the simplicity of a child's beliefs. The children in Song of the Sea are equally well considered, the loss of a mother, childhood bickering, misunderstanding and coming to terms with grief. Both my wife and I, practicing artists and lovers of Studio Ghibli found the film beautifully done, different in it's style and will show it to our children.

An absolutely stunning film that can be enjoyed by anyone. Possessing beautiful animation, a captivating story and hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, this film is honestly one of my favourites ever made. I was watching it in my living room and my mum, who normally has no interest in animated films or any of the films I enjoy, came in and watched it with me and loved it as much as I did.This blueray has been lent around my group of friends with all of us watching it with our families and everyone adoring it. It is a wonderful film for the whole family.A word of warning for the US import of this blueray though- although the blueray works fine on UK blueray players, the box advertises an Ultra violet copy- which, unfortunately, cannot be redeemed in the UK as the film has not yet been released here.Other than that, the blue ray arrived in good time (which I was extremely glad of as- since receiving this blueray- I have moved to a different country).Overall, a beautiful film that longs to be shared with others. It will make you laugh and cry, it is so heartfelt and nostalgic. I love it.

My three and a half year old daughter received this film at Christmas from the Big Guy himself. We've watched it twice this week and both times she has been sat utterly enthralled for the entire length of the film, something that doesn't happen often!It's a beautiful film and an excellent story well told through precise, highly skilled animation. It rivals the best works of Ghibli in both theme and accomplishment. On the second viewing i drew even more meaning from it, there are subtleties to the story that i only picked up when i noticed the attention to body language and facial expression in the characters, as well as the dual layers of story.A stunning film that's deserves wide recognition. Lovely quality DVD.