War Horse
Directed By:
Steven Spielberg
Written By: Lee
Hall and Richard Curtis, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo
Starring: Jeremy
Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Niels Arestrup, David Thewlis, Tom
Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, Celine Bickens, and Eddie Marsan
Director of Photography: Janusz Kaminski, Editor: Michael
Khan, Production Designer: Rick Carter, Original Music: John Williams
Rated: PG-13 for
war-related and horse-related violence.
The
usual argument that someone will come across when discussing the work of
Hollywood blockbuster and box office king Steven Spielberg is that he’s a
sentimentalist. His success, whether in terms of gigantic spectacle (Close Encounters, Jurassic Park) or serious drama (Schindler’s List, Munich)
is that in the end, he’s somewhat of a pushover when it comes to trying to
break through to our emotions, often going right for the artery in trying to
activate our tear ducts.
Certainly
one can simplify what Mr. Spielberg does by that word, but I’ve always read it
as something more complex. Instead, the filmmaker believes in the power that
good can sometimes triumph over cynicism, often in the darkest of times. That
if we believe, than realism need not matter, and the bonds we hold—between
family, friends, or perhaps even strangers—are all we need.
These
themes run throughout the veins of War
Horse, Mr. Spielberg’s second feature this holiday season (after his
animated Adventures of Tintin).
Adapted from the novel by Michael Morpurgo, though perhaps sent into production
after the runaway success of the London stage adaptation now playing on
Broadway, Mr. Spielberg’s narrative follows a titular horse from its trials
with a poor family in the United Kingdom, before weaving through a number of
stories during the First World War.
