War Horse...the movie review

famous image by Fortunino Matania (1881-1963) owned by the Blue Cross...it illustrates the extraordinary bond that existed between soldiers and their horses.

Below is an accompanying poem by poet Henry Chappell (1874-1937) called A Soldier's Kiss:

When the movie was over...my husband and I were the last to leave our seats.  The movie credits rolled for almost 5 minutes naming the hundreds of people who came together in the project of bringing to the screen the tale of War Horse, written by Michael Morpurgo in 1982. 

The play by the same name won a prestigious Tony award.  I have not seen the play as yet, but know it must be an equally powerful statement of the bond between horses and mankind.  

I did read the book beforehand, and did not know how they would be able to tell the tale (as is told by the horse Joey in the book).  Well...they didn't; but the horses were amazingly expressive in showing in their eyes the feelings of trust and obedience that horses can show and give to those who earn that trust.  

What noble creatures horses are, and have been throughout history.  It is about time that people were touched by art depicting what these animals have done so willingly for us.  Steven Spielberg has made a wonderful movie that gave us an emotional ride through the horrific battlefields where so many fought and died, horses and man alike.  

There is a dramatic scene where Joey escapes into "no man's land" ...that hellish place between the two lines of battle.  The fighting stops because both sides can't believe there is a horse running loose in such a terrible place.  I won't spoil it for you, but right there...is the crux of the war thing...where it all boils down to what horses do for the soul of mankind.    

The movie was beautifully filmed and the attention to detail was greatly appreciated.  There was no need for blood and guts to be graphically shown.  There were no animals harmed in the filming, and a few seconds of animation were used in Joey's run through barbed wire.  

There is a happy ending because after all, this is a children's book Mr. Morpurgo wrote.  I just wish that the "war to end all wars" was true.  We seem to forget the terrible cost to everyone and are quick to fight, rather than find other ways to come to common ground with our fellow man.  

I found the movie's sound effects the most horrifying.  I caught sight of my self in a mirror on leaving the movie house and the whole experience was written on my face.  Everyone around us felt the same, men and women alike.  When we got up to leave, there was a man, about the same age as my husband who had waited just to meet eye to eye with my husband and say what a great movie that was.  My husband agreed and choked back sobs for the common emotion that he and the stranger felt.  

Mr. Spielberg was able to create art from all those people and animals in the project and bring together a great visual and emotional experience from Mr. Morpurgo's great homage to the war horses.  Go see it if only for the sake of the noble creature...the horse.

 The Blue Cross organization of the UK has been helping animals since 1897 and cared for sick and injured horses during World War One. They have kindly opened up their historic archives to the public online where you can explore images, memorabilia and stories from the front line…

read about my grandfather's war horse

Blog update: January 24, 2010

War Horse at the Oscars:

Great year for movies....The Artist leads the field of 9 for Best Picture with 11 nominations in the different categories.

War Horse has 6 nominations for:

Best Picture

Art Direction

Cinematography

Music-Original Score

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing

I doubt it will win Best Picture, but am happy a young generation knows of the role horses has played in human history.  I have read comments from some that had no idea, or gave no thought of how horses have served us. 

Joey, authentically tacked, and handler, authentically dressed on the red carpet at premier of War Horse in UK...photo from the Toronto Gazette

My grandfather's war horse

A touching memorial at Chipilly, France on the bank of the Somme river shows a WW1 soldier comforting his dying horse on the battlefield.

I have no photographs of, nor did I ever meet my Italian grandfather who had to say goodbye to his farm horse after it had returned from WW1.  What I know of my grandparents came from the stories of their history by my Italian born mother.

They came from the region in Italy known as Marche, what is now a resort town on the coast of the Adriatic Sea called San Benedetto del Tronto.  It is a beautiful town lined with palms, long white sandy beaches and the Apennines to it's back.

My mother's recall of the first world war was as a 10 year old girl in 1915.  Running and playing amid the bombing in the piazza, she suffered shrapnel injury to her leg which the doctors wanted to amputate.  My grandmother said no, preferring to take her to a Russian doctor that lived high in the mountains where he used herb poultices to save her leg.  Some of her tales were pretty horrific dealing with death daily, becoming routine. A very different reality than my carefree golden childhood here in America.

I got my love of horses from my grandfather who loved his farm horse and had to give him up to the army for service.  The horse did come home after the war; which was rare since most of the millions of horses used perished.  I have forgotten the name of the horse, but he did not come home unscathed.  He returned without an eye and ill from injuries.  It grieved my grandfather to have to put him down, but he did.  The grave was dug by hand and the horse covered in lime before covering.  Next morning found the horse had been unearthed by hungry neighbors for the meat.

It is a terrible thing to be grieved enough to bury a beloved horse; and yet, people being hungry from the shortages and ravages of war.  Everyone was hungry and my mother remembered her whole life what it felt like to starve.  She would cry for food until she saw her mother cry for her hungry children, then my mother stopped.  Her fondest memories were of the American soldiers giving up their chocolate bars to the children, and the Salvation Army handing out hardtack to stave off hunger.

Such is war...

War Horse...the movie trailer