Make Love AND War Horse

“War Horse” is not Steven Spielberg’s best film, however, it is among his best ten films. Set in 1914, “War Horse” tells the story of a horse named Joey, born on a farm in England. Joey is purchased at an auction by Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), a young man who lives on a farm with his parents, Ted and Rose (Peter Mullan and Emily Watson). In the typical Spielberg way, the training of and love for the horse by Albert, commences in a semi-eye-rolling fashion. Thank goodness, though, the elements that create said rolling of the eyes pass after around the 30 minute point of the film. Once the horse, Joey, is purchased by the British Army for the World War I effort, the film rarely deviates into a screenplay formula that one may expect. “War Horse” is a straight-forward telling of what happens to Joey after he leaves the Narracott farm. Joey has encounters with several different owners and, as expected, is involved in many war battles. It is called “War Horse,” after all.
I appreciated the straight-forwardness with which the story of Joey is told. There are no side plots in the film and there are no forced love interests in the film, though, at one point early in the film, Albert rides Joey past a car with a cute young British woman and her, we suspect, boyfriend. At this point, I thought to myself, ‘Ok, here is where the sappy love story will begin.’ Luckily, the film does not pursue this and stays focused on the story of the horse. That is an excellent choice, as the story of the horse and his involvement and use during World War I is very interesting. There are only a few battle scenes in the film which is wise, because, this film is about the horse, not war. The first one in which the British cavalry ambushes the French Army is very well-done. I never got the sense at any point in the film that Speilberg was attempting to position himself one way or the other as pro or anti-war. Again, this is a very wise move. “War Horse” is not about political stances, nor should it have been so.
“War Horse” is based on the 1982 book by Michael Morpurgo which, according to Amazon.com is narrated by the horse. It has also been adapted for the stage in England: http://warhorselondon.nationaltheatre.org.uk/. According to The Royal National Theatre’s website, “Actors, working with astonishing life-sized puppets by the internationally renowned Handspring Puppet Company, take audiences on an unforgettable journey through history.” I would enjoy seeing this performed on stage. I have neither read the book, or, as stated, seen the play, however, Spielberg appears to do a great job of adapting the source material into a film version.
As I alluded to earlier, the first thirty minutes of the film are the weakest as I could see the screenwriting template used to introduce the main characters of the film and to establish the townsfolk as mostly hard-working farmers. Of course, there is a bad guy who appears in this opening portion of the film. David Thewlis plays Lyons, the landlord of the Narracott family farm. Before any of the wartime activity in the film begins, the scenario of Lyons threatening to take away the family farm unless they can come up with the money for the rent payment plays out. Lyons is pretty much a stock character, the jerk landlord. Anyway, once this situation plays itself out and we get past the setup of the main characters, the film improves for all the reasons I have discussed in the above collection of words and punctuation marks. The first thirty minutes of the film contain a lot of formulaic elements, however, the amount of such elements diminish substantially after that, allowing the film to set a fast, though not race car fast pace throughout the remainder of the film. “War Horse” is 146 minutes, however, as is the case with good 2 hour plus films, it does not feel long at all. The acting in the film is wonderful,especially Peter Mullan as Ted Narracott and Tom Hiddleston as Captain Nicholls of the British Cavalry. I liked the fact the Spielberg used mostly unknowns in this film. Emily Watson is likely the most well-known cast member in the film. Unknown, of course, does not mean inexperienced, as most of the actors in "War Horse" do have extensive work in British cinema.
As far as horse movies go, “The Black Stallion” remains the gold standard. “War Horse,” however, is certainly not only high on the list of equine films, but it is also high on the list of Spielberg films, eclipsed only by his very best which includes “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T,” “Close Encounters of The Third Kind,” “Schindler’s List,” “Jaws,” and “Duel.” Yes, I said it. “Duel” is better than “War Horse.” Some of you might say, ‘horse feathers’ to that. Such is life. Anyway, your time will be well spent going to see or renting when it comes out on dvd, “War Horse.” I’m not going to be a neigh-sayer. Get on your horse and go see it.