Is a perfect movie.
It moves me on a deep and profound level in what is, to me, the best tale of a loving relationship between a human and an animal. Dog’s might be “mans best friend” now, but not long ago that title went exclusively to Horses.
My mom was obsessed with the movie, a Horse Girl herself, and had us watching it from a very young age. The shipwreck sequence in the beginning terrified me- especially that shot of the horse figurine as fire breaks out and illuminates it. The silent scenes on the deserted island have yet to be matched in cinematic beauty. And the general feel of returning to a 1940s industrial world, from the film stylings of the late 1970s, lands well. But it’s that last scene that really gets me, the race scene, because of the subtext of what is occurring during that scene, and how it is shot at the very end.
We see the kid and the horse bond through the whole movie. The kid slowly earning the animal’s trust and friendship, saving it from the ropes of the shipwreck- the animal swimming the boy to an island and saving him from a snake, they get closer, the horse lets him ride him- then the boy refuses to leave the horse behind on the island when he is rescued, saving him again- and when the animal is spooked by the industrial world when they return, the boy tracks him down again to make sure he’s OK.
It’s them bonding, and going to the mattresses for each other as Great Friends that chokes me up a bit. During the climactic race at the end, right before the gate is pulled, when Alex sees that the horse has a wounded leg- he immediately forgets about winning and tries to stop it, so his horse won’t hurt himself. Even after the gate opens and they go flying down the track, he is yanking on the reigns trying to get the horse to stop. Worried about him.
But he and the horse are having a conversation, actually. And the horse insists to him that his foot is OK, and he would like to win the race for Alex, actually. Alex relents, and lets him race with a wounded foot that the horse just shrugs off and overpowers everyone else regardless.
And as we approach the finish line, and victory, it isn’t a triumphant music score that is playing. We are not meant to feel like winning this thing was at all the point, even though we are thrilled with that fact. Instead the music that rises up and drowns out the cheering crowd is a peaceful nostalgic tune, as images of the two first riding together bareback on the beach cross dissolve in slow motion as Alex throws his hands in the air.
Their loving relationship is the real triumph of the story.
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