Movie Review: Black Beauty.
Black Beauty, a film from 1994 directed by Caroline Thompson written by Anna Sewell and Caroline Thompson. Starring Alan Cumming, Sean Bean, David Thewlis, Jim Carter and Peter Davison
A film following a horse's life through discoveries and love. It touched the topics of a horses love, the symbol of horses to humans and losing hope, to rising and learning that not everybody is bad. To me, the film's message was solid and strong, bringing an understanding to me in horses and how humans are. This is the film I wish to develop because of its authenticity towards relationships and realism. Our main protagonist is of course, called Black Beauty.
The whole tone was clear and it’s intention hit me. It’s not a film about how horse riding or owning horses is a fashion but about horses' relationship towards humans and the opposite, human to horses. Since at the age of 5 years old, my life has been filled with horses. Having them through my whole childhood, I understand what love feels like and gaining trust from them. This film also reflects it, the raw love horse and human have for each other. The film is different from other horse films that I have watched because we are watching it from Beauty’s perspective whereas films like Secretariat and Flicker are from a human's perspective. I feel watching the film through the horse's view, it becomes sentimental and heart breaking.
Not only the reasons above, another reason is realism. This is something horses experience every day, it’s shown all in one film. It doesn’t show the glamorous side all the way, it is not filled with exotic scenes or pushing the narrative of horses as a symbol of wealth but more of an animal going through change filled with violent attitudes to them and hard reality they have to face. But also about not losing hope.
We follow Beauty through a change of lifestyle and treatment. From a horse who is treated like a family, he is then brought to a rich and wealthy family who view horses as a symbol of wealth to put into hard labour.
Photo Credit: IMDBhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109279/mediaindex/?ref_=tt_mv_sm
The main Character, Black Beauty, a black stallion who goes along the journey of discoveries and reality of human treatment. The beginning of the film, we see him as a young horse, galloping through the fields who soon is grown enough to be ridden and is introduced to riding equipment. He describes how it feels to have something in the month and a saddle on his back. Soon enough, they start galloping through the fields, man and horse. Through the middle of the film, Beauty is shown how humans are not all nice and meets another side of reality. Being overworked and treated poorly. Towards the ending of the film, he is being sold, he is losing hope. All of a sudden, a young lad recognizes him, he is the young boy who looked after him when he was a little kid. The films end with Beauty lying down under a tree, eating grass and enjoying his life.
Black beauty is an example and a personal project that I wish to develop. It is how I want to tell the story of a horse but most importantly, how horses saved me. They gave me purpose and a beautiful childhood. I want to share the real truth and side of having a horse in one’s life, the way Black beauty has shown.
