by Brian Kesler
It's easy to be cynical with a film like 'War Horse,' a sweeping period World War I epic through the perspective of a horse, and in the style of an old John Ford movie. It's easy to pass it off as sentimental, anti-contemporary, and simple-minded. But, to do so is to miss an incredible experience. Nowadays, with most movies shot on steady-cams, and editing so quick most shots don't last one second, it takes some investing in this movie before you realize: Oh yeah, this is how movies used to be made.
From the first shots, it's clear that Spielberg has a natural ability for storytelling, as a boy watches a horse giving birth. Like in older films, every shot has a point of view. We can't simply see the horse being born, we must first see the boy looking through a gate, then pull the camera behind the boy and look through the gate ourselves, with the back of the boy's head just visible camera left. This is very old school technique, and it works. Looking through his eyes, we immediately feel connected to this character, whose name is Albert, and whose father eventually buys the horse at auction, leaving no money to pay the rent. The horse, however, soon proves invaluable as a plowing horse, brought up by Albert who shares a special bond with the steed and names him Joey.
War comes, however, and a storm destroys the turnips Albert and Joey worked so hard on. His father, desperately needing money, sells the horse to a soldier in the cavalry as the English leave for war with Germany.
The most intriguing element of 'War Horse,' for me, is the idea that the beginning of the war started in old fashion, on horseback with a cavalry charging through the enemy camp. The other side, however, was past the civil war. They had machine guns. In a shocking sequence, we switch perspectives, first watching the charging cavalry, then seeing an endless sea of riderless horses jumping over the machine gun wielding Germans. By the end of the war, the soldiers were trapped in trenches, on opposite sides of No Man's Land - a vast, muddy plain of barbed wire and darkness.
Horses were soon discarded as useless, and Joey goes from being used by two German boys to escape the army, to being discovered by a young French girl, who longs to be a rider, and her grandfather, a farmer who is hesitant to teach her. The French Army, however, raids the farm of everything it has to offer including Joey, whom they use to pull equipment up steep, muddy hills. Soon, Joey finds himself abandoned and confronted with a new technology: a tank. In one of the greatest sequences of the last few years, Joey - escaping the tank - finds himself alone in No Man's Land. With gunshots being fired, a frightened and confused Joey runs through the trenches and into the muddy field of battle, barbed wire catching in his legs, until he falls in a pitiful tangle of barbed wire and blood. The is truly an accomplishment. From the special effects to the music, which doesn't cheapen the pitiful impact. I rarely get emotional in movies, and in the times I do it's usually when I see something I've never seen in film, something that strikes a chord. This is one of those moments and I was sobbing.
The sequence immediately following involves two soldiers, one English one German, who put down their guns, travel into the empty field of battle, and together, untangle the barbed wire and free the wounded horse before retreated for their separate trenches. It is another exceptional moment.
By the end of War Horse, there's a great shot of Joey, looking out at the sunset. It is a noble, regal, and elegant shot. It is also a sad one, where we see in his eyes the horrors of war but also the beauty of the people he met along the way, and the worth of every life, no matter the situation, heritage, language, or custom. He is no longer a horse who can run wildly and carefree in the fields.
No comments:
Post a Comment