War Horse

When it comes to Steven Spielberg, there's a word which gets bandied around a lot. Schmaltz. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sentiment is key to Spielberg's films and is, perhaps, one of the key factors which has carried previous works such as E. T. into film history. His latest blockbuster, War Horse, is no different and is certainly laden with enough emotion to rival the recent John Lewis Christmas advert. But does it work? I'm afraid to say, not entirely.

As a sweeping shot of stunning Dartmoor opens War Horse, accompanied by a rousing score written by Spielberg's long-time collaborator John Williams, the tone of the film is set. Based on both the novel by children's writer Michael Morpurgo and the smash-hit stage show, War Horse follows the story of young Devonshire farmer Albert and his thoroughbred horse Joey (arguably, his best friend) as their lives are transformed on the outbreak of World War One. This is a film of two halves and two titles: the first half, 'Bore Horse' and the second, 'Sore Horse'. If you are not a horsey type of person (and I am not), then you will find most of the early scenes showing Albert training Joey as boring as watching golf on TV. I understand that these scenes were included to convey the growing relationship between man and beast, but their predictability and overt self-consciousness didn't win me over. The only saving grace of these sequences was the beautiful Dartmoor countryside, which Spielberg and his director of photography, Janusz Kaminski, have photographed with real flair and eloquence. As Spielberg himself said, Dartmoor is a character in itself and adds an impressive visual presence to the film. Once you've waded through the first half hour and the action moves to a cavalry charge in France, things start to get going. An impressive cast, with a whole host of British acting talent including Jeremy Irvine as Albert, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch as army officers, Emily Watson and the up-coming Toby Kebbell (with whom I had the fortune to work on the set of The Veteran) are all enjoyable to watch. Almost all of the performances were assured and dynamic and are a testament to Spielberg's supreme direction.

War Horse, of course, has several battle sequences. Spielberg has had plenty of practice in staging and filming battle sequences (look no further than Saving Private Ryan) and this is evident in the film's representation of the Battle of the Somme. This, along with every other battle scene, was expertly directed and was both harrowing and intense – surprisingly so, since there was little graphic violence (the film received a 12A certificate). These scenes were a suitable juxtaposition to the tranquillity and beauty of the countryside which Albert and Joey have left behind and for which they are both fighting. The plot saw Joey being handed between English, French and German nationalities and armies and I felt that the use of an animal to bridge the gap between all sides and show the universality of war worked well. Now, why did I refer to this second half as 'Sore Horse'? Well, there's a scene (featured in the trailer) where our hero Joey runs through no-man's land but gets entangled in barbed wire. The pain the horse suffers is palpable and quite touching and most of the horses in the film are, by the end, very sore indeed.

One of my pet hates, however, reared its ugly head. I can't stand it when foreign characters speak to one another in English whilst retaining their original accent. This is made even worse when some of the dialogue (for example when German officers were shouting orders to large numbers of troops) was performed in the original language. In my mind, the two can't mix and make the action totally unbelievable and unrealistic. Studios need to realise that audiences aren't pond life (despite evidence to the contrary in some city multiplexes) and can read subtitles. On a wider narrative level, the whole film felt slightly unconnected and episodic, featuring one-too-many 'fade-to-blacks' to give the whole thing a feeling of cohesion.

The final scene of the film (and don't worry, there ain't no spoilers here) seemed to have been attacked with a can of Dulux's finest orange paint and oozed sentiment and emotional manipulation. But this is why audiences love Spielberg's work and the film is, in general, enjoyable and very nicely-shot. However, despite this, the sentimentality felt a bit too staged and forced – especially when it came to two horses rubbing noses to show their affection. There was a line and Spielberg's Black Beauty cantered over it, leaving a trail of schmaltz as it went. 

Clapperboard Rating: * * *