War Horse (2012)

In the nicest way possible, War Horse is old fashioned. It’s a film that could have been made – perhaps not with the technology but definitely with the heart – in Hollywood’s heyday. War Horse is an epic film that has Steven Spielberg doing what he does best. He takes the audience on an emotional journey through World War 1 and the other side. It wears its emotions on its sleeve, and there is no place for cynicism in that world. JJ Abrams payed tribute to Spielberg movies he grew up watching as a kid with Super 8. I feel Spielberg is paying tribute to the films he grew up watching with War Horse.

War Horse is set in England – 1914. Devon lad Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) tames, trains and bonds with a stubborn farm horse he names Joey. When times get tight, Joey is sold into the British cavalry and begins an adventure that takes him across France and onto battlefields of World War 1 – with Albert in pursuit.

War Horse is adapted from the Tony-award winning play, as well as a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo. The film opens with Landscape shots of Devon, where the story begins. If Tintin was made so Spielberg could try out the latest technology in film making, War Horse sees the director returning to his storytelling roots. There’s certainly no doubt that Spielberg is using the style of his childhood heroes, John Ford, David Lean, to name a couple, but he also brings his own cinematic intelligence to the film.  It may not stand up to some of his most applauded work (E.T, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan), but his direction is as good as ever, the performances are strong (especially by Jeremy Irvine) and is, for want of a better word; a proper movie.

The film can take its time in certain passages; Spielberg seems to be enjoying his time with the characters, but spends too much time with some, and not enough time with others. But the cinematography is simply stunning. Janusz Kaminski’s work here is much different to the work he did on Saving Private Ryan. It’s shot in the style of a classical film, with long tracking shots. You won’t see many handheld shots here, especially in the more intense War scenes, and is definitely the most gorgeous work they’ve done together so far. War Horse calls on films from the 20’s and 30’s and feels like its come straight from that era.

The movie has Spielberg using his imagination, whether is entrance shots from the reflection of Joey’s eye, a regimental pendant as a telling narrative motif, or a strategic use of a windmill sail. Finally we have the use of the horses in the film. Much of the magic and enjoyment of the stage show comes from the excellent puppetry used to bring the horses to life. Of course, this wasn’t an option for Spielberg (it’s a bit too ‘old school’ for Hollywood). But somehow, Spielberg still manages to tell the story almost entirely from the point-of-view of the horse. Once the bonding session with Albert is over, we pretty much stay with Joey throughout the rest of the film, a decision that makes the journey of Albert less important, but the audience has came to see the story of Joey more than anything else. Spielberg definitely knows how to film horses, be it crafty camera moves or expansive tracking shots of Joey as he gallops through the war, in these moments in particular, there’s no more impressive camera movement.

The acting is top-notch with great performances from Emily Watson, Benedict Cumberpatch and Tom Hiddleston. Their performances are very old fashioned and works very well with the style of the movie. Of course the stars of the show are the horses. How Spielberg managed to get these performances from Horses is nothing short of amazing.

War Horse is fantastic family film making that does what all good films should do, which is take the audience to another world that either doesn’t exist or never will again.