War Horse
Year
2011/2012
Genre
War, Adventure, Drama
Story
Albert Narracott watches the birth of a hardheaded foal born into the world. Albert visits the farm everyday and watches with admiration of a foal which grows into a colt. Its playful nature and its loyalty to its mother impresses Albert. When the horses are big enough they are auctioned in market places to get the best offer possible. Ted Narracott, father of Albert was there and bought the colt with an unbelievable amount of money! Which is pretty much of an absurd price considering the build of that colt to be a plough horse. Rose Narracott, mother of Albert was then worried for now they would need to make more money to pay up their monthly rent to their landlord, Mr Lyons. The Narracott promised Mr. Lyons that they would meet the deadline by planting turnips. Albert was quick to volunteer to devote himself to take up full responsibility in taking care of the colt and training it to be ready to plough the wasteland which is filled with rocks and weeds.
Albert trains Joey to plough the land and within a day with Joey's almighty strength, successfully ploughed the whole wasteland into a fertile land ready to plant loads of turnips. A terrible distress came when England has declared war with the Germans! In order to compensated for the high debt, Ted decided by himself to sell Joey as a war horse to Captain Nicholls. He promised Albert as man to man that he will take good care of Joey and love him as much as Albert did and gladly returned it once the war is over. At camp, the British decided for an element of surprise which is to ambush the Germans. The cavalry charges forward to the tents of the Germans only to find that the German were actually the ones with the element of surprise which is a whole roll of machine guns in the roll of trees waiting for them.
Joey and a few other horses along with Topthorn, the black horse which whom he train with survived the battle. Both horses are quick to attach to each other. They were assigned to pull the ambulance wagon driven by two brothers named Gunther and 14-year old Michael. They escaped from the army with Joey and Topthorn to a country side of France to a land owned by an old man and his granddaughter, Emilie. The German soldiers found them hiding and ordered for a firing squad due to desertion. The next day Emilie found two great war horses in the windmill and claimed she 'found' them to her granpa. Both horses was captured by the Germans and was now sent to pull heavy artillery, a task which quickly kills horses due to extreme strengths used. The two are assigned to a german horse caretaker, whom feels pityful towards these two amazing horses.
The plot moves on when Albert now joined the army with Andrew. The Britian soldiers charged into a no-man's land ( land not occupied by both parties either due to fear of each other or uncertainty who it belongs to) and made it to a German deserted trench, where a gas bomb explodes and chemical gaseous spread viciously throughout the whole area. Andrew was sacrificed in the explosion and Albert's eyes was exposed to the poison fumes and is temporarily blind. At dawn, casualties were heavy on both sides and in the middle of the no-man's land was Joey trapped in barbed wire. Joey was saved and brought back to the camp and was reunited with Albert once again.
Acting
While watching the whole movie, I manage to learn something important, and that is the love for horses. Joey being handled down from owner to owner which each shows love and care for him. I am a horse lover myself and watching this movie really left me sitting in awe. Jeremy Irvine's acting was really good! He played the role of a country side boy, you could easily tell the way he run and move around his dad's farm. I'd say it took effort to act in that sort of manner. David Thewlis never fails to always put up a good role as a villain in the movie. Steven Spielberg has succeeded once again for producing such an awesome movie! At first I was thinking that this isn't going to be a superhero movie nor a science fiction one, Back To The Future for e.g., but Steven showed to us how great his skill as a director is and he has produced such an entertaining movie for all ages!
Overall
This movie portrays love for horses and that the awareness is made clear in this movie. Joey was handled down from one owner to another through out the years of war. Each owner shows affection for Joey and takes good care of him. This impresses me so much that at times I could feel tears stinging my eyes. The songs and musics chosen were precise to fit each scene and allowing audiences to seep into the moment and savoring it. For a horse lover or anyone who has a heart for animals, I strongly suggest you to check out this movie for it's love for horses are shown and proved. You'll definitely enjoy watching all playful and adoring scenes. So ENJOY the movie
Guest Reviewer: Justin Chan
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