War Horse (2011)

One of the stories I remember being captivated by when I was a kid was Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel, Black Beauty. Since then, I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for movies about horses. I mean, how can anybody not love horses? They are among the most beautiful of animals on this earth.

War Horse has elements of Black Beauty in its story line. A horse is separated from its young owner, then experiences hardship through its life. It also has its roots in a book. The movie is based on a children’s book – War Horse, written by Michael Morpurgo in 1982 – and a 2007 stage play of the same name.

Separated from its mother in an auction, a young colt is purchased by a farmer – Ted Narracott (Peter Mullan) – not because he really wants the horse, but because he wants to stick it to his landlord, from whom he’s leased his small plot of land. But that’s just fine with his son, Albert (Jeremy Irvine), who quickly names the colt Joey and proceeds to establish a bond with him.

His mother, Rose (Emily Watson), isn’t quite as happy. She’s willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he will turn Joey into a plow horse, despite the fact that he’s a thoroughbred and not a work horse. That was Ted’s folly – he bought a race horse instead of a work horse.

Just when everything’s going well, thanks to a fortunate rainfall, things begin to go awry. England joins the war against Germany, and World War I is under way. The turnip crop is near harvest, but a rainstorm (the rain giveth and the rain taketh away) ruins the crop, forcing Dad to sell Joey to the Army as a cavalry war horse. Capt. Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston) promises Albert that he’ll take care of Joey and if he can, return him when the war is over.

But of course, in their first battle charge, Capt. Nicholls and most of his men are slaughtered by the Germans. Joey and his bonded stallion friend, Topthorn, survive the battle and are used as ambulance horses by the Germans, cared for by two brothers, Gunther and Michael (David Kross and Rainer Bock) who desert, fleeing on Joey and Topthorn. Unfortunately, they are found and executed.

The horses, however, are found in a windmill where they were left, and become the property of an old French man (Niels Arestrup) and his granddaughter, Emile (Celine Buckens). The horses are taken from them by Germans and put to work hauling heavy cannon.

In the meantime, Albert has somehow talked his way into the Army, despite being underage, and bravely fights in the trenches with his friend, Andrew Easton (Mike Milne) by his side. Both are injured in a gas attack. They don’t know it, but Joey is near. The war horse is frightened, but somehow survives bombs, gunfire and barbed wire.

Will Albert and Joey be reunited? And what of Emilie and her grandfather? You’ll have to allow your heart to fly free and experience the emotions as I did, at the appropriate moments.

War Horse is a wonderful movie with elegant cinematography, breath-taking battle scenes, excellent acting, and beautiful horses. Really.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, War Horse is a little long, running two hours and 26 minutes, but you know what? When it ends, you’re left looking at your watch and wondering where the time went.

Grade: A