The War Horse

Steven Spielberg is known to make eye-popping movie hits but it is not in eye-candies that Spielberg earned the respect of everyone as a notable director but in movies that tackles sensitive plots. Spielberg made 2 movies this year, Tintin and The War Horse. Both of these movies, in my own opinion, are not publicized widely that very few people know that these movies exist. Tintin was a spectacle and was a great execution of the technology which Robert Zemeckis (Polar Express, A Christmas Carol) was trying to perfect over the years. In The War Horse, Spielberg gains a momentum of his artistry as he tries to tackle a genre which I believe to be the least among other genres to be an avenue for film making in Spielberg's caliber: Animal Movies.

Although Spielberg made Jurassic Park, you might contradict my previous remark. Jurassic Park is a Sci-Fi movie which usually belongs to the upper genres of movies along side with Action and Drama. In The War Horse, we expect to see a Charlotte's Web-type of movie, however, it is the majesty of the novel in which this movie is based that it succeeded as a film and not just your average B-movie.

The War Horse tells about the story of a colt who came upon a struggling family after being won in an ill-bidding auction. This resulted for Albert to take the responsibility from his alcoholic father to take care of the horse which he trained to do the ploughing of their field. The story of the horse continued when it was chosen to be one of the horses to be used during 1st World War and was separated from Albert.

The movie is a surprise for me since I was expecting a feel good movie about a horse's journey from being a plough horse to a war horse. I, for one, was not able to read the novel, and so the surprises never end. One of the best thing about this movie is that it made us care to the horse as a character and makes us involve in his journey through the fields to the war. It is like watching Homeward Bound but with a more emotional depth. It simply shows that if a horse can touch other people's lives then surely as an individual we make the same mark to the people we meet everyday. Although Joey did not utter any words, Spielberg was able to draw out silent messages which were captured strategically making it a very effective story-telling technique.

What I admire most is that it was able to capture the provincial life back in the late 1910s. There is also subtlety in the war scenes which involves a very low profile violence compared to Saving Private Ryan. Spielberg re-enacted a PG-13 violence in one of the war scenes and it was perfect. The cinematography is superb and there were some reference with Gone With The Wind in scenes which involves the sunset.

The War Horse is a movie to be seen not because Spielberg made it, it should be seen because it has a story to tell. There is a pure heart in this movie that most of the animal movies we have seen lack.

GRADE: A-

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