Cast: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson and David Thewlis
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rating: 3.5/5
Simple yet impressively powerful!
By Priyanka Ketkar
It is not just dogs, but animals in general are man's best friends. We have seen plenty of stories where men or young boys and animals share a bond like no humans do. Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is one such story of love, friendship, sacrifice, peace and war.
Based on Michael Morpurgos's popular 1982 novel, the story is about Joey- a miracle horse. Joey is not any ordinary horse. He is a free spirited horse. But Albert (Jeremy Irvine) knows it and believes in him. After his drunken father buys this young horse, Albert decides to train him and they both become best friends. But "War takes away everything dear from everyone..." and war separates these two as well. But destiny has different plans and things change, for good. Both Joey and Albert are enrolled for the war. Will they make it through? Will they ever meet again?
Superb acting on the parts of everyone, right from the little Celine Buckens, Jeremy Irvine, NielsArestrup and Emily Watson to the simple village-folks. The music is also very beautiful, editing is minute and creative, and the cinematography is fantastic.
The movie has everything. It has human emotions, it has animal emotions, it shows friendship, it shows war and it shows humanity in parts. The part where the soldiers at war turn friends only to save an animal is touching. Yes, the film has more of what many would like to call- "entertainment value" and less of "reality". But sometimes, a little bit of imagination, too many coincidences and over-the-top emotions are necessary to help us escape the harsh realities, to teach us some emotions and to help us enjoy the world filled with love, at least through the movies.
There are some extremely harsh scenes of violence against the animals (after all it is war) but we could've done without those scenes, really! And yes, the movie is long and that might be one little problem with it. But it will be better if you decide to just sit back and enjoy.
So leaving aside the minus points, overall the movie is sufficiently heartwarming and a good one-time watch!