Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998) was a brilliant, but horrific account of the Second World War that did not shy away from the brutalities of war. There are some similarities between Saving Private Ryan and Spielberg’s War Horse, yet a significant difference is the family friendly, almost old-fashioned representation of wartime Britain. The orange, sun drenched fields of Devon have literally never looked so perfect. Yet, when the film leaves Devon and moves to occupied France and Germany during the First World War, Spielberg is able to represent death and the horrors of war without resorting to Ryan’s brutality. A scene with the execution of two young deserters is powerful without being at all explicit. This may not be an accurate representation of war, but it is an allegory for loss that can be absorbed and understood by a young audience.
War Horse will be too sentimental for some and this is valid criticism. Despite the death and horror of the First World War, the film ends of a high note and the loss of human life is second to the rescue of a horse’s. Yet, it is a beautifully shot film and in lesser hands may not work and certainly would not contain the moments of pure brilliance that Spielberg brings to it. A scene in no man’s land during the Battle of the Somme as two opposing soldiers free the horse from barbed wire amongst the horror of war and lightly falling snow is simply incredible.
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