Gift Horse

Spielberg turns off his computers and gets back to storytelling

(Jan. 5, 2012) Reviews

WAR HORSEis a determined, almost defiant exercise in old-fashioned restraint by a director not especially known for it.

War Horse

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I’ll give credit where credit is due: Steven Spielberg basically invented the summer blockbuster, and I love some of his early work (Duel, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark),but his schmaltzy, maudlin middle-period coincided almost perfectly with the flowering of my latent cynicism. By the time he started making snazzy period pieces like Catch Me If You Canand Munich, I had started to get over myself and back on board.

War Horse opens on the eve of World War I, almost wordlessly depicting the birth of Joey — the titular equine — and the beginning of his bond to Albert Narracot (Jeremy Irvine), a sweet-natured farm boy from Devon. Circumstances, including a father’s self-medicated emotional turmoil, economic distress and the looming international conflict, conspire to separate Joey and Albert before the war blooms in all its ragged horror.

The narrative primarily follows Joey as he moves across the continent, leading a British cavalry charge, bringing solace to a sickly French girl, hauling German cannon and eventually bolting across the cratered, spiked topography of no man’s land.

The first third of the movie, which unfolds against the craggy verdancy of Devon, could have been directed by John Ford in the 1930s. Spielberg’s precision behind the camera is astonishing. He doesn’t allow himself any flashy camera moves or huge effects sequences to propel the action. Instead, he keeps his camera stationary and waits for the narrative to unfold within the frame.

As impressive as this method is technically, it sometimes feels stagy. For some of the modern audience, steeped as we are in camera and editing techniques that emphasize speed and spectacle (many of which Spielberg had a hand in pioneering), it might be a strain to hang with such a deliberately paced story. (Guilty admission: There were moments when I felt distracted and removed from the story.)

That being said, the final third of the movie contains two of its best scenes. I won’t spoil them here; each is an impressive set-piece, though they couldn’t be more different. And taken together, they very concisely describe some of the central motifs of the story: the futility of war, the inherent goodness in humanity, and the ability of animals to help humans transcend conflict. A little maudlin, sure, but when it works, it really works. PG13. 146m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

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