A FOUR-FOOTED PERSPECTIVE ON THE HORRORS OF WAR: "WAR HORSE"

Ok, hand on heart. You have to admit it, in the scheme of things; these fellas often get missed out. Heck, they sometimes don’t even get a mention. Especially if we’re talking about war.  War is horrible, no one wants it, and no matter which way you look at things, a lot of people end up getting hurt and it is an absolute tragedy. Thing is, some of the “people” getting hurt are actually animals. I was on Facebook the other day and saw a very touching picture. A marine and his dog were standing in front of a memorial for all the marine dogs that had lost their lives in battle. The caption read “some heroes have four paws and fur”. I think it’s especially heroic, not least because these animals don’t actually understand what they are fighting for. They trust us. They go along with it. They do their best, sometimes to the bitter end. I think this is the reason films like War Horse is important. Let’s remember our animal friends. Let’s remember their sacrifices too…

Albert Naracott leads a tough life. He lives on a poor farm with his mother and his father, a rather embittered veteran of the Boer wars. His pride and joy is Joey, a beautiful thoroughbred horse his father purchased more on a whim than anything else. At the time, nobody thought anyone could get a day’s farm work out of Joey. But Albert knows he’s special, and so is their friendship. The couple are inseparable, that is, until the First World War Breaks out. The army needs everything, and “everything” includes horses. The family needs money. Albert is heartbroken but Joey is sold to the army. So begins the adventure of Joey. We follow him all through the horrors of the First World War, and thanks to him and the people whose lives he enters; we witness human stories on both sides of the trenches. The horror and fear in the Germans and the British as they prepare to fight each other to the death. The French civilians as they desperately try to survive the horrors ravaging their country. And the animals who are clinging on to dear life just as firmly as the humans…

Now, there are two ways of looking at this film. I could, potentially, be quite mean about it if I wanted to. I mean, this film is the latest incarnation of a genre that my generation has grown up with and lovingly giggled at later on in life. I am talking about films like Lassie, or Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. Joey is wonderful, his antics, the way he interacts with other horses and his ever varying tirade of owners brings tears to the eyes… However… I mean I have never owned a horse but seriously… It gets to the point that you begin to expect him to rise up on his hind legs and speak English. Or eat his hay with a knife and fork. I don’t know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the film isn’t adorable. (I mean heck, I loved Skippy the bush kangaroo so much, I WANTED a pet kangaroo, just ask my mom if you don’t believe me). But realistic, it definitely ain’t… And I mean, while we’re on the subject of realism, every single filmic cliché is successfully crammed into one film through Joey’s constant changing of hands. I mean, again, since we are talking about a master like Spielberg here, it is all very tastefully done and very well blended but still… A touch of originality now and then would not have hurt. At all.

But, on the other hand, as I said at the beginning of this post, this film makes an excellent point. Animals fought – and still fight – just as much as humans in the wars. They suffered and they died. They changed hands as if they were furniture (which is another subtle point made in the story of Joey) without any consideration for their feelings at all. If nothing else, this story helps us remember them. So go ahead. Watch it. Add some chocolate. Or a glass of wine. And tissues. This film will probably not change your world, it is more goo than anything else, but as they say, a little goo now and then is cherished by the wisest men… I think that’s how that quote went anyway… J

A MATTER OF LIFE, DEATH AND "A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT"

I know we did say that the theme of this week was death. And yet, I hear you cry, this is a romance! What the blazes is it doing here? Well, I reckon it fits. First of all, a lot of it is set during the First World War, in the trenches. And honestly, history teaches us that it doesn’t get much more death filled than that. But apart from that, this is the story of Mathilde, who refuses to believe that her fiancée is dead – even though there are multiple clues to the contrary. So it kind of fits. Death is constantly present, hovering over us, even though the theme of the film is love. Does it prevail or not, however? Ha ha. As if I’d tell you… =) For Mathilde and Manech it has been true love from the very start. Since they were children. So when the authorities come to fetch him away to go to the Somme in 1917, it is truly heart-wrenching but they know their love is strong and will keep them going over distances and difficulties. Come 1919, Manech has not returned. Official reports make it quite clear he is dead. Soldiers claim to have witnessed his death – or something pretty close at any rate – as he was left to die with four other men in no man’s land for self-inflicted wounds. Mathilde, however, knows otherwise. She and Manech are connected. If he were dead, she would know. Thus starts an amazing journey, searching for the truth. Mathilde seems to be seeking to overcome death itself but the question is, is she simply being overly hopeful? Or is her heart actually leading her to a truly amazing truth? This film is another brilliant example of the story, the director and the actress fitting together almost perfectly. Audrey Tatou, who a few years before the film had carved out a bit of immortality for herself as Amelie is extraordinary. The role suits her very well, as she needs to be a bit “extraordinary” like Amelie, yet Tatou manages very well to combine this quality with a more serious note that is demanded by the film. In this 20th century fairy tale, she is a very realistic and very believable, sympathetic character. As for Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director, I am well on the way to becoming one of his greatest fans. What I admire him for most is his ability to give a fairy-tale / other-worldly feel to every single set he touches. And he makes it work. It is the same quality but slightly different every time, and in my book it is this ability to keep the basic quality while adapting ever so slightly to fit the situation that makes an artist great and Jeunet (and Tatou incidentally) have this quality by the bucket-load. We are all told how impossible to imagine the horrors of trench warfare are. I think this is exactly why Jeunet is such a good choice as the director of this film. He is able, I would say, to convey the “unrealness” of it all without falling into melodrama or clichés. The trenches he creates, the story he tells are so horrible they are actually completely believable. And probably, though very few people alive today would know for sure, quite close to what actually happened. In the same way, the love between Mathilde and Manech is so extraordinary it is quite believable. After all, falling in love is one of the most unbelievable things possible. And this is possibly why it is so hard to find really good quality love films that are not “gooey” or clichés. This, I am glad to say, is one of them. P.S. I had spotted the odd celebrity face here and there throughout the film but it was only when I was preparing to publish this and saw the whole list "en masse" as it were that I realised how monumental the cast actually was. See how many of them you can spot, some of them are just side characters :)

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

Oh No! I hear you cry. Surely not. That wonderful literary classic turned into some Hollywood war-flick? A follow up to The Hurt Locker maybe? Whatever next… Well I’m pretty sure there are a few such re-makes although I cannot name them off the top of my head. And (I hang my head in shame) I haven’t actually read the book either. Something I must correct incidentally. However, what I did come across was an absolute classic of a re-make. Filmed in (wait for it) 1928; this little gem (as I often seem to call films I like but I don’t mean to repeat myself he, he) actually won an Oscar® in the 1929-1930 Oscars®.
Now, before I get stuck into it, a warning to all you viewers: this one is kinda for cinephiles only. The fact that it was actually filmed in 1928 should give you a good idea as to why. Black and white (it is re-mastered but we are the generation of 3D and CGI, you don’t think it’ll feel much different but believe me, it will if you’re under a certain age). NO special effects. Rather stuffy acting with slightly over-done facial expressions (a remnant of the age were Movies were not Talkies yet. Facial expressions were all they had to express themselves with). Very slow editing and bad connections from one scene to the next; and that makes the storyline a touch hard to follow if you haven’t read the book. Almost two hours long. I mean, make your own mind up but I personally might not have gone through with it, if I hadn’t seen it of more of an intellectual challenge and learning curve. In short, a fascinating period piece – but not for “general consumption.
Well, I guess we all know the story. It is the story of a class of boys, who at 18, are “carried away” by their teachers patriotic speech and enlist “en masse”. This is the First World War. And the unsuspecting boys – along with us the viewers – are subjected to the true horrors of the trench wars…
This is possibly one of the best anti-war films ever made. As you can see it doesn’t have much of a “storyline” per se, it is one of a now almost dead breed; films made exclusively to put a message across. And in this case, the message is the horrors of war. And if you can get passed the fact of how alien it feels on a purely technical basis and get stuck in the story, you will be truly moved. You will, as you voyage with the class see everything, from a young soldiers’ first kill and the trauma thereof, to field hospitals; from the rats in the trenches, to the absolutely impossible task of finding food every day. And when you use a little imagination to think that these were the actual conditions under which wars were fought, you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved or even seriously upset. (Let me put it this way: my mother, who had read the book and criticized the film for “jumping around” and not sticking to or explaining the chronology of events in great detail was so distressed by it she couldn’t actually watch it to the end). And of course, it gives one the chance to reflect on the state of the world today and the shameful distance we all are from living peacefully together as a planet… But I guess that’s a topic for a different blog…