When I first saw the trailer for War Horse, I immediately said, “I want to see that movie!”
I knew I’d love a movie about a boy and his horse, separated by World War I. I’d heard that it would tug on one’s heartstrings and that it would have you on the edge of your seat, wondering if it would end like Old Yeller. But as a child I loved National Velvet and Black Beauty and the Black Stallion. I even loved The Incredible Journey, about a cat and two dogs who have to find their way back home.
This weekend I did see the movie and I loved it.
I don’t want to give any spoilers, except to say it was an emotional movie, but it won’t leave you devastated at the end.
The horse–or horses, because there were several who played the title role–were spectacular. You always knew what the horse was thinking and feeling, although the animal was never anthropomorphized. All the acting was suburb. Jeremy Irvine, the new actor who plays Albert, the horse’s owner, is absolutely appealing. He’s a young man with a great future, I predict.
I’m a sucker for battle scenes and this movie has a wonderful cavalry sequence that will certainly inspire my writing.
Another thing that I considered important for my writing was that the characters in the movie were complex. There were no outright villains, and even the tough German sergeant warned his soldier never to name the horses–because they were basically worked to death. There were also breaks in the action, relief in the emotionality of the movie. The temporary truce between the British soldiers and the Germans was a great scene.
But the best scene was when the horse finally runs from the war, runs over a tank, and through the fighting. You see bits of this scene in the Trailer.
Have you seen War Horse? What did you think of the movie?
What other movies have you seen lately?
Our guest next Sunday, Jan 8, is the incomparable Anne Gracie, who will be talking about her January release, Bride By Mistake.
