‘War Horse’ is a movie based on the novel
with the same name by Michael Morpurgo. Steven Spielberg, an Oscar winning
director, directs the movie. The characters include Joey, a miraculous horse,
Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine), a young, innocent boy from Devon, and Ted
Narracott (Peter Mullan), Albert’s father. In the beginning of the movie, their
tense relationship causes Albert and his father to have a lot of disagreements.
This movie is set in World War I and is a family movie.
The
film begins with a young boy witnessing a half-thoroughbred foal being born on
a neighboring farm. The foal grows into a strong, remarkable colt and lives in
the farm unbroken-in until a man brings him to an auction, where Ted Narracott,
a drunken veteran from the Boer war, buys the colt. His son, Albert or Albie,
feels so excited about the new horse, but his wife, Rose, is not pleased
because they need a plough horse. Albie names the horse Joey. But the Narracott
family needs to pay debt, so when the war comes, Ted decides to sell Joey to
Captain James Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston), a gentle captain who is well respected
by his comrades. From that point, Joey goes in the war between England, France
and Germany. After what happened to Joey, will he and Albie meet once more?
There
are many sound effects included in this movie, which add to the atmosphere of
war, such as galloping horses and whizzing bullets. Gary Rydstorm, an Oscar
winning sound designer, recorded different sounds with several techniques to
make dazzling sound effects. Different sound effects can make a movie very
authentic. The setting is also perfect; it creates believable images because
the places in the scenes are true and seem very real. In the movie, the places
are England, France and Germany, which were involved in World War I. Between
England and Germany territories lies no man’s land, and it’s very authentic to
the eyes of the audience because it looks very hopeless and lifeless; it’s full
of barbed wires that can cut people with no mercy.
This
epic movie will change the way you see war. Most people think that the cause of
war is because one country is trying to invade other countries, so that country
is bad, but after you watch this movie, you will understand the insightful message delivered
throughout the movie; the true reason behind a war. So don’t miss it!
