There is much you can tell about a movie from its start, the music, the images, and the tone. In Steven Spielberg’s new film War Horse, everything you need to know is spelled out in the first three minutes of dialogue and scenes. We have an over the top image of the countryside with overly cheerful but semi-epic music, giving the sense of a journey but with no real danger. (To bring this point home, the music is repeated several times over the course of the film, doing nothing to make the movie more intense, and gets very repetitive.) This sequence goes on for a while and we get to see a boy, Albert (Jeremy Irving), watching a horse grow up, and him obviously dreaming of owning him. So when his foolish father buys the horse instead of a work horse, for reasons of vanity, Albert and his new horse Joey instantly bond, as Albert tries to train him to be a work horse.
Film Review – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
I was probably not the best choice to review the new film Tinker Tailor Solider Spy for The MacGuffin. Double-crossing, secret-plotting, many-character-having spy movies make me anxious; I spend much of the time just fretting that I’ll miss something plot-wise. And if this is the case with a typical James Bond-style adventure, director Tomas Alfredson’s film takes it to new levels. The plot is purposefully, stubbornly obtuse, and often I had to just let go and try to enjoy the scene at hand while acknowledging that I didn’t understand the context—or, to put a finer point on it, what the hell was going on at all. It’s not so much that there are too many twists and turns to follow, but that we’re left to fend for ourselves as they come. I realize that too much exposition can be tiresome, but any summary at some point would have been appreciated. It can be argued that leaving so much gray area enhances the message of the film; I get that. I don’t mind working for comprehension, but I’d like to at least get the impression that if I work hard enough, an answer exists somewhere. But maybe that’s how a lot of spies feel.
