Tuesday 24 January 2012

Iron War Horse Lady

A wonderful film has just been released about an amazing creature that goes wild in Europe. Brought up in peaceful England, this creature goes to war against the Germans but gets waylaid by the French and eventually finds itself horribly tangled in no-man's-land.

We had thought of going to see the film about Margaret Thatcher but ended up watching a film about Joey the horse from Dartmoor. The plot-line barely changed. There was even a Ted Heath character in the form of the Darracotts' (the poor tenant farmers who bought Joey the wonderhorse) landlord (played by David Thewlis) who didn't get what he wanted and went all grumpy and huffy. All we needed was a Geoffrey Howe to put the knife into the ailing PM; come to think of it, the army doctor was about to send Joey to the knackers yard until young Darracott, now a soldier in the army, proved that the horse was his.

It was a great film, and not once did I think of the Iron Lady, honestly. The scenery is beautiful and there are some moving moments. I shan't say any more in case someone is going to see it.

We did think though that Steven Spielberg lost the plot at the end. The closing sequence is more Wyoming than Dartmoor - a wide red sunset and a reunion by a regular OK Coral gate that looked like something out of 'Little House on the Prairie'. Even John Williams' music sounded like 'The Big Country' for a moment.

But Meryl Streep must get an Oscar for her portrayal of the horse.

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