This post contains significant spoilers for War Horse.
Ok, full disclosure. I'm a Spielberg fanboy. I can't help it. I specifically consider the moment that I saw Jurassic Park to be the seed that grew into my lifelong love and obsession with film. Having said that I approached War Horse with some trepidation. The trailer looked over stylised and over sentimental. I had next to no knowledge of the book and subsequent play on which the film is based. And I was still reeling from Spielberg's last effort, the abysmal Crystal Skull.
But do you know what? I came out of War Horse impressed. It's not a perfect film by any means. But it certainly captivated me. Tonally it doesn't make much sense. The beginning of the film in particular stands out as being oddly whimsical. It features a comical goose and strangely childish humor. In fact almost feels like these scenes were lifted from a more traditional "children's" film. Which is in stark contrast to the darker atmosphere felt during the rest of War Horse. One could perhaps argue that this mirrors the loss of innocence felt by the titular horse's owner Albert. However this feels unearned as he scarcely features in the film beyond the opening and closing moments. It also seems forced to read it as a metaphor for the loss of innocence felt by England as a nation. The opening scenes do not so much evoke a sense of innocence for which the audience can nostalgically pine for, but rather the attempted comical tone feels hollow and throwaway. Narritively these scenes work. They successfully rationalise the intimate bond felt between Albert and his horse Joey which fuels the films 2+ hour runtime. But tonally boy do they feel out of place.
It was the films violent (though notably bloodless) and harrowing depiction of war that surprised me. While it would indeed seem natural that the director of Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan would tackle the subject of WW1 seriously. After having sat through the film's opening scenes I honestly thought I was in for a family drama. Something in the vein of Free Willy perhaps. But suddenly people started dying. There were intense battle scenes, child executions, and terrifying trench warfare.
Essentially the film is a series of short vignettes. Joey, our equine hero, trots through Europe (and the war) meeting various colorful characters on his journey. Joey himself is a positive force. He brings hope, love and compassion to everyone he encounters. However almost all of these characters, after being enriched by their encounter with the lovable and noble Joey, end up dead. This is a bleak film. The inspirational and compassionate general who rides Joey into battle is gunned down. The German children who use Joey to escape from the oppressive and dangerous German army are found and executed via firing squad. The young French girl who finds Joey and in him the one small joy in a world where her parents are dead both has the horse taken from her by German soldiers then eventually dies. The other horse which Joey 'befriends' while being forced to pull German artillery succumbs to injuries. Even in one of the final scenes, in which an injured Joey, tangled in a mess of barbed wire in no mans land, inspires an English and German soldier to work together in order to free him has somber undertones. It is implied that, once the horse is free, they will both go back to their respective platoons and continue trying to kill one another.
A film for children? Definitely.
Once the comical opening scenes are dispensed with that the film really begins to work. And while it may not be a "children's film" per se, the relatively tasteful and gore free depiction of war make it a film older children could see. It's a family film that doesn't glorify or gloss over the horrors of war. Spielberg isn't afraid to include intense and frightening imagery, which is why the film works. And I think it is why older children will like the film. It is the kind of film that I, as a child, would have felt proud to have watched. Sure it would probably have scared me, but getting through it would almost have been a badge of honour. It would feel like I had been trusted enough to see a "grownup" film. A mature, violent story that didn't patronise me (with the exception of that damn goose!).
And in that sense it reminds me of vintage Spielberg. A film from the man who understood that being scared is one of the greatest things about going to the cinema as a kid. It's what made it exciting. Just like that first time I saw Jurassic Park as an 8 year old. And with a film like War Horse, I probably would have felt like I had learned something too.
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