Whisper it gently but its been a ho-hum few years for one of the great and most succesful directors of the modern era, Steven Spielberg. Of his body of work completed in the noughties, there have been more highlights (Munich, Catch Me if You Can, War of the Worlds & Minority Report) then lowlights (The Terminal, Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, AI) but only just. Indiana Jones in particular was just a very poor film. His latest film, an adaptation of the bestselling novel by English author Michael Morpurgo would seem exactly like the kind of story for Spielberg's talents to make the most of. It is a delight then to report that War Horse is exactly that and his finest film in years.
Opening before the Great War in sun dappled English countryside, exhibited in gorgeously detailed tracking shots by Spielberg, we are introduced to a horse called Joey at his birth, a thoroughbred foal born in Devon and raised to be sold at the local horse market. The scene of Joey's separation from his mother is heartbreaking and yet not played for sentimentality. Enter stage right Ted Narracott, a tenant farmer played by Peter Mullan, one of the great British acting talents of the last few years. A spendthrift and a drinker, Ted takes a fancy to this horse and bids more then he can afford to secure Joey. He outbids his local landlord Lyons played by David Thewlis as a moustache twiddling villain. Ted's son Albert, played by Jeremy Irvine in the central role, who is aware of Joey's potential is set the tasl of training his new horse to be a working farm horse. Together they form a bond that is stronger then oak. Of course Lyons will have his revenge and threatens to throw the family off their farm unless the rent is paid but all is saved when Albert trains Joey to plough the fields and save the family farm. So far so good, but this is not a happy story and the outbreak of the Great War brings ill tidings for both Albert and his simpatico horse. Joey is sold to the Army, specifically to dashing young cavalry officer Tom Hiddleston. A fundamentally decent man, he promises Albert he will look after Joey like his own and return him after the war. So begins an odyssey for both Albert and Joey as they seek to find each other once again and return home to Devon. Joey's journey takes him through bloody and disastrous cavalry charges, a pair of Germand deserters, the life of a sickly young French girl and her grandfather, before falling into the hands of the German artillery units who used horses to carry guns to the front while Albert's takes him to the trenches of the Somme and all of the horror that entails. In some spectacular filmmaking, Spielberg manages to document the horrors of the Great War through the eyes of a horse and creates some particularly affecting scenes.
The skill of a talented filmmaker really shows here. Spielberg is particularly adept at creating some striking visuals without being overly visceral in his depiction. As an example, in a very fine scene we view the death by firing squad of two deserters in a lonely field through the rotations of a windmill with the sails shielding us as the fatal shots are discharged. Yet in other scenes, we are not spared the horrors. It is a fine balance and one that Spielberg strikes well.
In this, he is blessed with a fine cast throughout. The cream of European acting talent is on show. Liam Cunningham plays a small but pivotal role in a deeply affecting scene as a British military surgeon. Benedict Cumberbatch makes the most of an enjoyable role as a deluded cavalry officer who leads his men on a doomed charge and the always watchable Niels Arestrup who was so magnetic in last years Un Prophete appears as a French grandfather just trying to survive the war.
At the Irish premiere last night, Liam Cunningham noted that this is a sad film and it is that but ultimately what I took from the film were two things. Firstly, there is a strong bond between man and the animals they care for and work with and this really comes across in the film. Secondly, the sheer futility and stupidity of all sides in the First World War is deeply ingrained in this film. The human cost of that war is something I was very familiar with but the cost to nature was not something I was aware of. 500,000 horses died in the First World War. The level of cruelty which man is able to stoop to in his dealings with animals is oustripped perhaps only by his cruelty to his fellow man. This dychotomy between the obvious bond between man and beast and the level of cruelty shown is not one easily reconciled here or anywhere else. Ultimately though, there can be no creed or politics or human ideals worthy of such a cost to this planet and its inhabitants, human or otherwise.
A very fine film, perhaps the best of the year and surely a contender for an Oscar in the upcoming awards season. Spielberg's direction is superb with a deft touch missing from his recent work. A fine cast shine throughout including the oft forgotten Emily Watson in another performance that surely marks her as an actress of the very highest order. The story is epic in scope and structure and yet ultimately never loses sight of the boy and his horse. A triumph.
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