Still of Jeremy Irvine in War Horse – Photo by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP – © 2011 – DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC.
Recently, Spielberg made a great animation film Tintin and now he is treating us with his new timeless epic. War Horse is to put simply a story about a friendship between a boy and a horse.
I love films about animals, I can easily get bored with people, but animals never stop to amaze me. Joey is a remarkable horse: his character is so noble, patient and understanding that I even think he’s more human than many of us.
Let’s get back to the film. The WWI is well-depicted in its wrongness; it is like an extreme example of how mankind can degrade. Such contrast it makes to see lively and beautiful coutryside landscapes with farms next to a warzone with its mood, rot and death. The meaninglessness and a sheer atrocity of war is one of the dominating movie themes.
But since it’s a feel-good movie its main theme is about the power of a genuine friendship, capable of resisting the evils of war, of enduring the impossible.
There are a lot of funny moments in the film to save it from a solemnity overdose. For instance, a goose who has more personality than many of the human characters. Also, the first shot of Emily Watson digging out carrots from the soil made me laugh, she makes a brilliant farmer.
The end of the film is so emotional that I have to confess I was crying like a baby (in my justification I have to say that the rest of the audience were also contributing to the flood at the cinema).
War Horse is a powerful old-fashioned film. It may not contain much novelty, but it certainly had a cleansing effect on my getting a bit rusty soul. It is good to feel pure from time to time.