War Horse

Following The Adventures of Tintin by a mere four days, War Horse opened on Christmas Day 2011 to critical acclaim. It was a genuinely moving story of the bond between a boy and his horse told against the backdrop of World War I. 

The story of this film is a unique one as it focuses not on the boy, Albert (played by Jeremy Irvine), but on his horse, Joey as well as their enduring bond with one another. Initially purchased by his father (played by Peter Mullan) to work on their small farm, his mother (played by Emily Watson) is mortified when she sees the horse and is hardly the plow horse they need. Albert has a far more positive reaction and promises to train and work the horse as long as they keep it. Much to their surprise, Joey turns out to be up to the task as the two bond. But catastrophe strikes and the father is forced to sell Joey to the British Army or else they can't make rent on the farm. Albert is devastated but the Officer who buys him, Captain Nicholls (played by Tom Hiddleston), promises to take good care of Joey and return him at the end of the war. From there, the film follows Joey from his time with Captain Nicholls as he makes friends with another horse, Topthorn, who is the mount of another British Officer, Major Jamie Stewart (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), and from the British side to the German side where Joey is taken care of by two brothers, Michael (played by Leonard Carow) and Gunther (played by David Kross), then from there winds up in the care of a young French girl, Emilie (played by Celine Buckens) and her Grandfather (played by Niels Arestrup) and from there onward as Joey makes his way through the war trying to find his way back to Albert. 

Steven Spielberg took a different approach to this film as opposed to other war films, most notably Saving Private Ryan. He makes a sincere effort not to overshadow the epic and moving tale of this incredible horse and the special bond he has with Albert with a lot of extreme violence. The film still has it's intense moments but Spielberg is careful with how it's portrayed in the film. For example, there is a scene in the film where the army on horseback is charging the enemy when suddenly they come across a row of machine guns. We just see the guns fire and then the horses run by without their riders and somehow that was more heartbreaking to me that actually seeing the gore. In the process, they took a very Golden Age of Hollywood approach to how they shot the film with Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, creating shots that immediately reminded me of a John Ford film. The film is absolutely gorgeous and they really let the landscapes and settings help tell the story. The beginning of the film is all bright colors and bold greens of the countryside and then as the film goes on and the war wages on, the scenery gets muddier and darker until we wind up in No Man's Land, which basically looks like the gates of Hell. This is easily one of Spielberg's most visually striking films. 

The film assembled an impressive cast for the film. I loved Albert and his family and they were brought wonderfully to life on screen. Jeremy Irvine makes a great impression as Albert as this idealistic and somewhat naive young man who just falls in love with this horse from the moment he lays eyes on him. He's does well at establishing the strong bond between him and Joey, which is important since his character basically bookends the film in the beginning and then towards the end when he's actually a soldier in the war, looking for Joey and there are some notable differences between the two times we see the character. I really loved the two actors playing his parents, Peter Mullan and Emily Mortimer, especially Mortimer as the far more practical one of the couple. Tom Hiddleston is great as Captain Nicholls, who brings a real sense of kindness and tenderness to his role that I really liked and was surprised by. I also appreciated the care given to the characters of Michael and Gunther and Leonard Carow and David Kross do a great job portraying two brothers facing war together and how they react to it, especially when Gunther made a promise to his parents to keep his younger brother safe. I appreciated the fact that the film transitions between the British and German sides and takes a very even approach to both sides and doesn't outright demonize one or the other entirely. I also greatly enjoyed the performances of Celine Buckens and Niels Arestrup as Emilie and her grandfather. The time the film spends on their farm is a warm and welcome respite from the horrors of war and the two characters wonderfully portrayed by their actors and do a great job showing their very close bond and how it's strengthened by the appearance of Joey and Topthorn in their lives. 

War Horse is a fantastic addition to the filmography of Steven Spielberg as this fantastic epic told from a rather unconventional point of view and with a great deal of style. The film is beautiful both visually and in the story it tells. It's a film that blew me away when I first saw it back in 2011 and it did again when I revisited it now.