War Horse (2011)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on January 8, 2012 @ tonymacklin.net.

Every once in a while, one needs unbridled sentimentality.

Director Steven Spielberg and War Horse fill that need. War Horse is a combination of The Wizard of Oats and Gone with the Whinny.

Sentimentality is when the characters' feet may be in the mud, while their heads are in the rainbows. They may have some reality, but their hearts are overflowing with sweet emotion.

The reality is that almost all the multitudes of horses that served in World War I were brutally massacred, but War Horse dwells on a "miracle horse."

That a horse caught in wire and wood can be seen as a Christ figure may add resonant spirituality.

Since several films in 2011 ended in angst, nihilism or apolcalypse, we could use a little optimism. A quacking goose doesn't hurt.

War Horse begins in a rural English village in Devon, where a horse is born and then auctioned off to a tenant-farmer (Peter Mullan), who purchases him out of stubborn pride. His wife (Emily Watson) is appalled, but his son Albert (Jeremy Irvine) loves the steed, whom he names "Joey."

Albert sets out to train Joey. They try to plow rocky ground in hopes that they can stay on the land. The unsympathetic landowner is waiting to take over the property.

World War I is declared and the father has to sell Joey to the army, and the horse is sent to war in France. He goes through dreadful experiences. A major theme of War Horse is mammal versus machine.

Joey's young trainer Albert follows him into war, and destiny prevails.

War Horse is a mixture of Spielberg's best and lesser attributes. The first section may remind one of John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952). It also is War Horse Fantasia. Composer John Williams is on the loose. There isn't horse abuse, there is orchestra abuse. The violins and other instruments of Williams ceaselessly overwhelm these early scenes.

Fortunately Spielberg shuts down his music when the characters are at war in France. And at times he allows some solid dialogue to escape the smothering music.

War Horse has its stumbles, but it also has some strong, potent emotion.

What fortunately is absent from War Horse is meanness. Only one whip is employed half-heartedly to Joey. There is the calculating landowner and a pragmatic German officer, but their hearts really aren't into spite.

I like decency, but Spielberg at times seems to like it too much. When an English soldier and a German soldier shake hands, it's too much. It's Spielberg overemphasizing a point he's already made very well.

When the rocky field suddenly is lush green with turnip leaves, it's cinematic overplanting. And there are some last-second survivals that dispose of credibility.

The final images in all their glory may remind us of Gone with the Wind, but Devon isn't Tara.

But for all his plunges into easy sentimentality, Spielberg also creates genuineness. And there are some unexpected moments: the officer (Tom Hiddleston) who buys Joey is kind to Albert, Joey runs to substitute for his injured friend [yes, horses have horse friends], the soldiers figure out a way to save an injured horse, and a sound from the past brings life-saving recognition. These are scenes of genuine poignancy.

Two characters and their talented actors especially keep humanity alive. Emily Watson is believable as the formidable wife and mother. And Niels Arestrup as a French grandfather has authentic appeal. Both these characters are given good dialogue by screenwriters Lee Hall and Richard Curtis, who adapted the novel by Michael Morpurgo.

War Horse, adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford, was a very successful play in London and on Broadway. It is scheduled for an American tour this year. On stage the horses were large puppets. In the movie Joey is played by more than a dozen actual horses.

Jeremy Irvine suitably portrays Albert, the loyal young man.

War Horse -- novel and play -- is now a Spielberg symphony. War Horse is part reality and part fantasy, and Spielberg has to do a risky balancing act.

Despite the horrors of war, Spielberg tries to transcend them. His movie is bigger than life. We witness a battlefield strewn with corpses, but the battle in War Horse is not gore. It's mostly motion.

The movie's essence is decency.

War Horse is a gallant film.