War Horse (2011)
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 146m
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis:
A Devonshire farmer buys a thoroughbred for a workhorse out of pride, and his son raises it with loving care. However, on the outbreak of the First World War it is sold to an officer for the cavalry and commences a tour of ownership, encompassing British, French and German, each of whom in their way recognize its special quality.
Review:
Au hasard, Balthazar meets Un long dimanche de fiançailles: brutalized existence of a dumb animal, unlikely reunion of the 'lovers', chocolate boxy visuals juxtaposed with the squalor of the trenches (death, dirt and desertion). It is perhaps unlikely the author, Michael Morpurgo, had this comparison in mind, though it doubtless crossed that of the film's director, who is no mean film buff. Spielberg fashions a family entertainment out of a stage production which was paradoxically more gritty and uncompromising, but his film-making skill cannot help but score successes along the way. The cavalry charge and freeing from the barbed wire - a very theatrical moment that ought not to have worked on screen - are two notable examples, and the cast is a roll-call of Great British actors.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 146m
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis:
A Devonshire farmer buys a thoroughbred for a workhorse out of pride, and his son raises it with loving care. However, on the outbreak of the First World War it is sold to an officer for the cavalry and commences a tour of ownership, encompassing British, French and German, each of whom in their way recognize its special quality.
Review:
Au hasard, Balthazar meets Un long dimanche de fiançailles: brutalized existence of a dumb animal, unlikely reunion of the 'lovers', chocolate boxy visuals juxtaposed with the squalor of the trenches (death, dirt and desertion). It is perhaps unlikely the author, Michael Morpurgo, had this comparison in mind, though it doubtless crossed that of the film's director, who is no mean film buff. Spielberg fashions a family entertainment out of a stage production which was paradoxically more gritty and uncompromising, but his film-making skill cannot help but score successes along the way. The cavalry charge and freeing from the barbed wire - a very theatrical moment that ought not to have worked on screen - are two notable examples, and the cast is a roll-call of Great British actors.
Country: US/GB
Technical: col/2.35:1 146m
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis:
A Devonshire farmer buys a thoroughbred for a workhorse out of pride, and his son raises it with loving care. However, on the outbreak of the First World War it is sold to an officer for the cavalry and commences a tour of ownership, encompassing British, French and German, each of whom in their way recognize its special quality.
Review:
Au hasard, Balthazar meets Un long dimanche de fiançailles: brutalized existence of a dumb animal, unlikely reunion of the 'lovers', chocolate boxy visuals juxtaposed with the squalor of the trenches (death, dirt and desertion). It is perhaps unlikely the author, Michael Morpurgo, had this comparison in mind, though it doubtless crossed that of the film's director, who is no mean film buff. Spielberg fashions a family entertainment out of a stage production which was paradoxically more gritty and uncompromising, but his film-making skill cannot help but score successes along the way. The cavalry charge and freeing from the barbed wire - a very theatrical moment that ought not to have worked on screen - are two notable examples, and the cast is a roll-call of Great British actors.