War Horse Masterfully Concentrates On the Perspective of the Horse
Posted: Friday, January 13, 2012
by The Old Gray Mare
www.DressYourHorse.com
Our entire family went to see War Horse in the theater shortly after Christmas. My grandson had been reading up on this movie.
He brightly told me, “Grammy, you’ll probably love War Horse. I went on the computer and did some research on this movie and it’s supposed to be really great. All about the horse!”
I said to him, “But I’m not sure I can stand to watch them killing off the horses and all that.”
“It’s just the idea,” I said.
When my son offered this lovely evening out with dinner and movie, I jumped at the chance. So we headed to dinner and then made our way to the comfortable, relatively new movie theater.
The star of War Horse was a previously undiscovered young man, Jeremy Irvine; costarring were Tom Hiddleston and Niels Arestrup. War Horse is rated PG-13 and is approximately 2 hours and 25 minutes long. A Touchstone Pictures film, War Horse was adapted from both a Novel and Play by the same name.
The story takes place at the time of World War I.
In a peaceful pastoral setting in England, a foal is born, destined to become War Horse. The story line takes viewers through Joey’s development into a beautiful young horse and the unique training he receives by his young owner who has grown extremely fond of him.
As war breaks out and the family is on the verge of losing their homestead, Albert’s father sells Joey to the Cavalry. Albert is desperate to find Joey again, and as soon as he turns 18 enlists to search for his well-trained, handsome horse.
For Joey (now War Horse), life has become dangerous because many cavalry soldiers view horses as tools of warfare. Both men and horses fall by the hundreds. Joey becomes the mount for a British Officer, finds himself as a getaway horse for two deserters, and gets a reprieve at the home of a French girl and her grandfather.
He is discovered by the Germans and taken by them. Joey rapidly is back in the melee of war, this time having to pull an immense canon.
Scenes of battles in War Horse are poignant and terrifying. The realism of these scenes is amazing and I would describe as hell on earth.
War Horse has become a magnificent horse that does everything asked of him, giving his all. The horse’s perspective is brilliantly portrayed.
The sentimentality in the film is a bit over the top and may be somewhat far-fetched. Yet War Horse is a story of hope, of family and of the emotional bonds holding everyone together.
Meanwhile, Albert has been seeking his horse, and is now very near. When a momentary truce is called on the front lines, fighting stops by British and German fighters, in order to aid War Horse. The reunion of Joey The War Horse with Albert is really close.
I highly recommend War Horse to anyone who is inspired by the horse. The horse himself is superbly trained and handsome. The acting is excellent. Pictorially, this film is amazing portrayal of the reality and horrors of war.
The Old Gray Mare writes for www.DressYourHorse.com and her Blog sites.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Hi Heidi.
Thanks for the review, but I still don't think that I will go see it. Doesn't mean I don't love horses, though. :)
Hugs,
DianneThat's exactly what I said too. And then I went anyway. I'm glad I saw the movie. Even though it showed soldiers disregarding horses as mere objects in the war and a means to get around, there were the others like you and me. Those people that cared about the horses and wanted to do right by them. It balanced out very much as it does in our daily lives - those who care and those who don't. At least no one was cruel which is what we see so much of these days. They have described exactly how different scenes in the movie were made. The trainer of the lead horse owns him. It's a stallion. Altogether they used 18 or 19 horses from the small foal to the different scenes. They kept the horse's markings throughout for the most part. Other movies make it more obvious that other horses are playing the character. Believe me, I did study it pretty well. But I was really upset at some of the scenes; my grandson is still chuckling about it. I cried out and got worse a one scene. Frankly I don't remember. I translated it into thinking this may well have happened and how dreadful. The overall picture though is kind, loving and the lead human actor is great.
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