“War Horse” was one of the most unlikely West End hits of the last five years — and perhaps of the history of the London stage. The 1982 children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo related the adventures of a horse enlisted in the cavalry in World War I. The novelist told the various stories of the war all through the eyes of that unlucky, but remarkable, animal. How could such a vast landscape be adapted to the stage?
But Nick Stafford did it. His theatrical version of “War Horse” opened in 2007 and was an immediate success. Even the queen and her husband went to see it, their first personal visit to the theater in a number of years.
| On screen |
| ‘War Horse’ |
| 3 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis |
| Director: Steven Spielberg |
| Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of war violence |
| Running time: 124 minutes |
You might think turning the novel and the play into a film would have been, in comparison, mere child’s play. Steven Spielberg’s version is certainly an achievement, both technically and emotionally. There’s just one small problem: The director of “Saving Private Ryan” shows the horrors of war so relentlessly here that “War Horse” has suddenly become a lot less family friendly.
The dilemma must have been obvious, though. One could dramatize the bloody events the horse witnessed and show the real heroism of that horse and his human colleagues. Or one could play down the carnage, giving a less clear picture of what happened, but allowing more children to see the story.
Spielberg made his decision, and it’s not one I’ll second-guess. “War Horse” is a moving tribute not just to the unsung heroes of the First World War — horses — but also the men who bravely fought alongside them.
Albert (Jeremy Irvine) is the Devonshire boy who trains Joey, turning a wild young thing into an important part of his family’s farm. But his beloved horse is cruelly taken from him when war breaks out on the Continent. Albert is too young to enlist. But once he learns the officer who’s chosen Joey as his own mount has died in action, he finds a way to get into the action himself, fighting for his country while looking for his horse.
Joey doesn’t get to choose sides. Captured, he’s forced to fight for the Germans. His eyes are full of intelligence, though, and he eventually makes his way to a no-man’s-land where he’ll serve not as a weapon, but as a tool that draws two enemies together. He’s a beautiful horse in a beautiful film that, despite some unreality, reminds young and old alike of the virtues that sometimes seem to have been lost on fields in Europe.
