Running Time: 2 hours, 26 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Steven Spielberg
Quick Impressions:
My husband and I have been unreasonably biased against this movie for some time. Everyone we know keeps saying how it looks so good and so sad. To us, based on the previews, it just looked like a horse running for three hours set to the same, majestic music, “Duh duh duh duhhhh, duh duh duh duhhhh!” We thought it would be boring.
Now why was I prejudiced against this film? I like Steven Spielberg. I like John Williams. I like horses. I’m not crazy about wars but will admit that it’s hard to sustain a 2 and ½ hour movie without having one thrown in there somewhere. (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo manages that length without a war but not without Nazis.)
I’m happy to report that my initial bias against this movie was totally unfair. I do think War Horse is a bit too long, and toward the end, some scenes drag, but for the most part, the movie is engrossing and rewarding. I cried through pretty much the entire thing.
The Good:
The movie is called War Horse, and the sentiment of the film is very strongly anti-war and pro-horse. Something strange happened to me while watching it. During one scene, when a particular group of soldiers forces the horses to pull immensely heavy artillery (guns, cannons, terrifyingly large and ugly machines of war) until they collapse and must be shot, I thought, What a horrible abuse of horses! Why would anyone do that to horses? Then, of course, I realized, And why would anyone do that to people? For the most part, the boys fighting blindly in the trenches, desperate and terrified for their lives have as little to do with starting the war as the horses.
There’s a strange paradox in the movie, though. As Joey the Horse’s adventures take him from person to person, we see that the war was terrible and required great sacrifices from everyone. Joey meets kind people from various nations and backgrounds, all of whom suffer in some way because of the war. Yet if there had never been a war, the horse would never have had the opportunity to touch so many lives. I guess the idea is that war brings people together—whether they like it or not.
The beginning of the movie seems like a throwback to an earlier era as if we’re watching National Velvet instead. Jaded movie-goers might find themselves feeling a bit suspicious. We don’t usually find epic stories this earnest on the screen these days. War Horse takes its time in setting up the story. At first this slow pacing is a bit irritating, and at moments the interactions between the Narracott family and landlord Lyons seem contrived, as if the cast is merely pretending to be characters in a children’s story. We feel we’re seeing the whole thing through a child’s eyes (perhaps because the original novel is for children and narrated by the horse).
But watching longer, we soon grow acclimated to the world of the movie. Just when we’re beginning to love the Narracotts—especially young Albie, so desperate to keep Joey, the horse he adores—they’re suddenly gone. Joey has a new owner and a place in perhaps the worst English regiment ever.
For the rest of the movie, Joey runs from owner to owner. Basically when he’s in the hands of someone compassionate who treats him kindly, it’s a sure sign that tragedy will strike in the next ten to fifteen minutes.
As the film progresses, Joey and the audience get to meet a series of delightful and captivating characters. The scenery is first dreamily gorgeous, then nightmarishly stark. The whole production has a rich and lavish feel and a highly satisfying ending.
Best Scene:
War Horse presents a series of memorable tableaux. It’s easy to believe that the film was adapted from a stage play. Several scenes stand out—the plowing of the turnip field (which is apparently not spelled the way I think it ought to be), the charge led by Major Jamie Stewart, the punishment of the German deserters, the moment Emilie saves the horses and the moment she cannot. And of course the ending is appropriately dramatic and makes a profound impression.
But my favorite scene happens in Narracott barn back in Devon when Albie’s mother tries to explain to her son why his father has become the man he has. Not only does this scene introduce the father’s Boer War regalia, but it is also the moment when Albie begins to consider that the world may be quite a bit bigger and more complex than he’s always imagined.
Best Joke:
Some unexpected levity occurs near the end of the movie when a British soldier and a German soldier emerge from their respective trenches to solve a problem together. The way more wire cutters arrived on the scene made me laugh.
Best Action Sequence:
I think the scene when Joey is running is supposed to be the best action sequence and certainly comes at the most climactic moment. The sequence when Albie’s friend is left to kill deserters is quite moving, too.
I found the charge led by Major Stewart to be eerily moving, however, because it shows the savagery of war so well. What the English do seems barbaric; what is done to them is equally appalling.
Best Surprise:
All the stuff that happens at the ending shouldn’t surprise anyone too much. We see that a happy ending is in the cards from the first moments of the movie. Still the flourishing finish has a miraculous, almost Dickensian quality as all the loose ends wrap up perfectly, creating a moving and satisfying conclusion.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment (Score):
If War Horse wins an Oscar, it ought to be for Best Score. Often the music that plays during previews isn’t the score from the film. In this case, putting the actual score in the preview was a wise decision. As I reflect back on the many films I’ve seen this fall, War Horse’s score is the only one I can immediately recall. I remembered liking the music in The Artist and finding some moments brilliantly scored in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but War Horse has the only score I can actually remember, and the music fits the movie well. The only thing against it is that it was written by John Williams, and you can tell. On the one hand, of course, that’s a tremendous strength. But if you’re looking for a score that has a fresh, edgy, unusual quality, this is not it.
The Performances:
The black horse that Joey befriends during the war was a fantastic actor. When a soldier asks for a horse to pull the giant war machines, then clarifies that he means the black horse, the horse’s reaction is priceless. I have never seen a horse look so freaked out. He widens his eyes like, “Holy cow! You mean me???!!!” I don’t know if it was a very good trainer, a superb film editor, or just one talented horse behind this reaction, but the effect was wonderful.
I loved Celine Buckens and Niels Arestrup as Emilie and her grandfather. Since I’m not very interested in war and find life in the trenches depressing, these two were one of the highlights of the story for me. Arestrup was so good as the grandfather that I began to feel that I should know the actor. Why isn’t he better known in America?
Tom Hiddleston (who was fantastic earlier this year as Loki and has a relatively long part in the previews) is very good while he lasts, and Toby Kebbell was quite likeable as the soldier who helps free Joey from the barbed wire. And I recognized Eddie Marsan, so that made me like his character, too.
The movie has so many memorable characters, all capably played, but none of them stick around very long. We spend the most time with the characters from Devon—Albie Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), his mother, Rose (Emily Watson), his father, Ted (Peter Mullan), his friend, Andrew (Matt Milne), the easy-not-to-love landlord, Lyons (David Thewlis), and his son, David (Robert Emms). They’re with us in the beginning and return in the end, so they’re the easiest group to get invested in. Of that group, I think that Emily Watson gives the best performance. Jeremy Irvine makes Albie intensely vulnerable and lovable but sometimes goes a bit overboard with the emoting and guilelessness.
The Negatives:
This is a story children would enjoy. Watching it, you can tell that it’s based on a children’s book narrated by a horse because though the themes are profound, the story is relayed very simply. All of the characters are straightforward. Their conflicts are obvious. There’s no meaning hidden in nuanced language or surprise twists. None of that is a bad thing, but it’s a shame that most children probably wouldn’t enjoy this movie. It’s far too long and some of the war scenes are probably too disturbing. A child would have to be ten or eleven to watch War Horse, I think, and even then, the child might not enjoy it. That’s unfortunate.
Overall:
War Horse was much less boring than I expected, though I do think it was a bit too long. The epic scope and innocent, earnest tone seem to work against it at first, but after a while help the movie to achieve a kind of greatness. This is the kind of movie that’s best seen in a theater or watched once a year as an event. I’ll spoil the ending slightly to reassure the faint of heart that Joey the horse does survive the war, but that doesn’t mean you won’t cry. Make sure you drink plenty of water before going because you’re likely to cry non-stop for almost three hours. Also, don’t be surprised if after seeing the movie you start to want a horse even though you never did before. That’s what happened to me.