War Horse | 2011
Genre: Drama
Author : Srivathsa
Synopsis: Old fashioned, vibrant and gorgeously entertaining.
The final shot of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar bait “War Horse”, utterly reminded me of the Eastman color version of “Gone with a wind (1939)”, which conceivably is a mark of respect; and that is not the only moment in the movie, that made me feel longing about the melodramatic yet, pompously schmaltzy film making. “War Horse” is sentimental, heartrending, visually terrific and classically Spielbergian.
“War Horse” is based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, with the same name. It follows the story of a horse named Joey, whose friendship with young Albert (played by Jeremy Irvine) forms the heart of the movie. The journey of the horse through the World War I and how it comes back to its friend, Albert is “War Horse”.
Steven Spielberg’s Joey is full of character. It comprehends situations and thanks to Spielberg for making it act, quite literally. The movie’s brilliance lies mostly in the visual style adapted by Speilberg. He should perhaps thank his ace cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski. The hues and shades tend to echo the mood faultlessly like those opening green fields, sepia tinted warfare, misty no man lands and the Eastman styled final shot.
There is a scene, a very stirring one infact, where Joey sprints across the war fields and traps itself with the fences and another scene, where two soldiers, fighting for countries (who are enemies), come together to free the horse. There are touching moments like these, with deep veiled significance and sentimentality, which makes “War Horse” a piece of work.
Although one might feel the weary sense of Spielberg getting old in a few scenes, “War Horse” still stands at the top, with its breathtaking visual style and dynamic story telling. “War Horse” with its old fashioned film making, of which it is unquestionably proud of, it remains as one of the gorgeous films of the year.