War Horse
by deerinthexenonarclights
The trailer for this film played to many as a joke, a satirical sketch akin to something that you would see on Funny or Die, so obvious were both its sentimentality and Speilbergality. The comedy stemmed from the fact that the concept alone is a combination of two of Spielberg’s most commonly explored tropes: the battlefields of wars past and the pets of young boys, following as it does the daring adventures of a horse that is raised in rural England then shipped off to fight in that last, great war. What is less obvious from the trailer though is just how mature a film this is; though the jokes were funny Spielberg has never been so serious and Funny or Die has never, ever been this well directed.
Though the opening sections are on the surface the usual scenes you would expect to see in your average boy-meets-dog picture ( the script quite often refers to Joey, the horse, as a dog in reference to the genre that it truly belongs to, biology aside) after this introductory half hour the film takes a daring turn of its own, splintering into a series of vignettes tied together only by the presence of this tough thoroughbred. It is in this way not a traditional feature, but rather an anthology film and as unusual as this idea is in contemporary media it still sits rather seamlessly upon the screen.
Jumping from trench to trench and front to front, tethered only by the reigns on Joey’s back is a contrived construction yes, but it is also one that allows for a remarkably broad scope depiction of its topic. Each story is around the length of a short film; long enough then to get to know the charming characters and their wonderful worlds before we get to see how war can come and in seconds tear both apart. Though it lacks the depth of a full-length feature this is ultimately a much more moving approach and one that speaks more to the communal suffering of war than it does the specific.
That is until the story attempts to wrap back around to its humble beginnings and connect all of the characters into one central journey, that of the boy. This is where the contrivances burst through the seams and the sentimentality seeps out the cracks caused like literal sap. Ultimately then there simply isn’t room for the film to move, it’s over bridled and cannot be both of the films that it promised to be. Spielberg has to choose one word from the title to focus on, either the war or the horse, and despite this slight attempt at compromise the film is really about the former.
The horse, as charming and courageous a character as it is ( and it surely is both, Spielberg owns omniscient animals this summer with Snowy also on our screens) stands strongly as a metaphorical reflection of the people it encounters. Just as one cannot truly see their shadow without the sun, without the innocence of animals as an offset we also cannot truly comprehend the horrors of humanity; they are the counterpoint, the yin to our yang. And oh the horror, the horror! Those expecting E.T. on all fours need leave now, if anything this is more reminiscent of Schindler’s List than that lovable flick.
Some argued that war was glorified in Saving Private Ryan’s stunning, visceral action sequences but no-one could say the same Of Spielberg here. Despite its focus War Horse is not an action film, in fact there are very few scenes of action to be found anywhere within it and those that are tend to be more impressionistic than visceral. For example, the first battle scene shows the heroic british cavalry charging not an opposing army of faceless fascists as most do but a simple group of separate human beings; the simple tasks that they are attending to when they hear the horde of hooves instantly humanizes them and this destabilizes us as viewers. In an elegant touch we are not shown the cavalrymen fall, instead we watch as they charge the guns, then cut to riderless horses leaping overhead. The entire film is censored in this way, we never see anything occur that could conceivably be called ’cool’ and yet the impact of the action is entirely unadulterated.
Obviously, ’War is bad’ is a message older than the movies themselves and yet it is one that still seems to need saying. What makes this film fresh though is the way in which it embraces this vintaged quality and puts it to work on the plow. The film stock used is if the highest quality and the logistics and effects are thoroughly modern and yet the film both looks and feels like an old John Ford western. The way in which the sun sets in the background, over these focus pulling picturesque backgrounds is very old school and the film has the tone of drama to match. It is by far the classiest production of the year and just stunning to stare at. Spielbergs best looking film? I think it would be hard to argue against.
This class however is a double edged blade because as well as adopting the style of the era Spielberg has also taken in the feel of the location, incorporating a stiff upper lip into his style in the same way one does an accent. This is a very British film, and i’m not just talking about the actors. Though it will certainly jerk tears from the audience at times, especially during that finale that I criticized earlier, the film itself lacks some feeling. It’s essentially a melodrama, a genre which, despite being constantly overblown on the surface, is in its own way very repressed. I feel like I could have felt more for these people if only the film would have let me.
So though War Horse is without a doubt a strong and diligent animal, it’s one that cuts a wide and uneven swathe through its field and falls short on the ride. It’s not a work horse, it’s a prize animal; one to look at, not one to harness. That though is fine when the film is this well-bred. So no it’s not a joke,nor is it really even remotely funny but this sweeping, sentimental epic is without a doubt entertaining in a way that movies haven’t been for quite some time.
Good to hear some positive thoughts, a lot of people have been really down on this movie lately. Looking forward to the chance to see it!
And I’m looking forward to reading your review when you do. I was a little hesitant about it myself because of all that hate, but I think that if you go into the film willing to buy into its sentiment then it will move you; cynics however will find too many flaws and obvious moments to enjoy themselves. Ideally the film would cater to both, but sometimes you just have to take what you’re given.
It is nice to see a current treatment of the Great War which is now largely forgotten but yet so formative for the 20th Century. The juxtaposition of horses and 19th Century tactics with mechanized warfare was haunting. From the soldier’s point of view, dead horses behind the lines were a great source of extra food if they were not contaminated with gas: http://worldwar1letters.wordpress.com/2011/12/30/somewhere-in-france-7101918/
Without a doubt, this is Spielberg trying his hardest to manipulate the hell out of his audience but it somehow works and brought me into the story despite some of the very corny moments. Great review.
Excellent review. I enjoyed this more than I expected with the only really jarring scene being the nonsense in No Man’s Land between Pete and his old cobber Col. It reminded me so much of the films I use to watch on a Sunday afternoon growing up and certainly the sunsets fitted in with that – expected Rhett and Scarlett to suddenly appear and embrace.
Hah, yeah even a youngster such as myself picked up on that old timely vibe and was happy to see the likes of it again. I think the on-the-nose elements that you mentioned – the no-mans land scene in particular – is an unfortunate side-effect of that; subtlety is as you know an invention of the twenty-first century.
The negative reactions to this are what really jar me though, I wonder how many of the people that didn’t like it have actually seen the thing or if they just wrote their reviews based on the trailer. I don’t think he stands a chance but Steven should be back in Oscar contention for this stunner.
I think it is a pity he threw in a scene like the Col/Pete one – the two could have worked together to free the horse sure etc but he went too far with the saccharine dose and diluted what could have been a pivotal scene into an embarassing one. That is the only scene that really jars though and takes it almost into parody. The first half hour may turn some people off anf they don’t stay for the ride but still comment on the movie as a whole
A potentially pivotal scene turned into a string of gags about pliers, yeah I agree with that. Up until they started talking it worked; the idea of going out there is a good one, introducing the stop and chat was not. I wonder though, how did they get back through the trench metal detectors with all those pliers still in their pockets?
Ha Ha – Marwan? You never really answered that query did ya?