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the_dala at 11:34pm on 26/12/2011
the_dala at 11:34pm on 26/12/2011Saw "War Horse" today with the parents, as I was determined to do as soon as I saw the trailer. And the film is exactly what you would expect from said trailer: a grand, classic epic utilizing Steven Spielberg's gifts for emotional resonance (some of the reviews made me chuckle because, did they not read the label on the tin? Spielberg doesn't do subtle and he never has) and Janusz Kaminsky's exquisite cinematography. John Williams' score isn't half bad either, although I wouldn't say they're his most memorable themes (beats having the score distract from the story like a lot of action movies these days -- I'm looking at you, Zimmer and "Inception").
While the first act is a little slow, once the war starts it's completely riveting; I didn't realize it was two and a half hours and it didn't feel that long. It's beautiful and very moving, with some strong performances -- Tom Hiddleston was lovely and Emily Watson note-perfect as usual -- to anchor the acting despite the younger, less experienced actors. The lead's not bad, exactly, he just doesn't leave much of an impression. He's very natural with the horse(s) portraying Joey, though.
I cried through about half of it, of course. The movie might as well be subtitled It Sucks To Be a Horse and I am a horse lover, so that was pretty much a given. It perfectly illustrates why I find the thought of slaughtering horses for meat so upsetting; in all that humanity has asked of horses and everything we've done to them, our relationship with them is fundamentally different from any other animal, even house pets. It is fucking hard to see fields covered in dead and dying horses, movie or not.
The play absolutely fascinates me and I'm dying to see it when the U.S. tour starts next summer (consider this my mental note!). But I'm also glad we got a live-action film in addition to the amazing puppetry of the show, because frankly horse movies don't come around that often, much less horse movies made by a masterful director like Spielberg. I will definitely need to have this one on DVD. And sadness, I still don't have any horsey icons
While the first act is a little slow, once the war starts it's completely riveting; I didn't realize it was two and a half hours and it didn't feel that long. It's beautiful and very moving, with some strong performances -- Tom Hiddleston was lovely and Emily Watson note-perfect as usual -- to anchor the acting despite the younger, less experienced actors. The lead's not bad, exactly, he just doesn't leave much of an impression. He's very natural with the horse(s) portraying Joey, though.
I cried through about half of it, of course. The movie might as well be subtitled It Sucks To Be a Horse and I am a horse lover, so that was pretty much a given. It perfectly illustrates why I find the thought of slaughtering horses for meat so upsetting; in all that humanity has asked of horses and everything we've done to them, our relationship with them is fundamentally different from any other animal, even house pets. It is fucking hard to see fields covered in dead and dying horses, movie or not.
The play absolutely fascinates me and I'm dying to see it when the U.S. tour starts next summer (consider this my mental note!). But I'm also glad we got a live-action film in addition to the amazing puppetry of the show, because frankly horse movies don't come around that often, much less horse movies made by a masterful director like Spielberg. I will definitely need to have this one on DVD. And sadness, I still don't have any horsey icons
tired
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If I can ask, why do you say our relationship with horses is so different from other animals?
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I realize that this may look like hypocrisy and it's certainly coming from a Western and American perspective, but it's how I feel ::shrugs:: Some of it is emotional, but honestly I feel working with horses gives a better rather than lesser understanding of the issue.