Reading the comments already contributed, I was aghast at the several reviewers who thought that this film was practically worthless. I think that it is a near-masterpiece.
Admittedly, I have not read the book, so I can't comment on whether the film was true to it. However, if a film is to be faithful to what lies behind an author's words, it must do so in visual ways. I'd ask, to be faithful to the book, wouldn't a script be something more than a transcription of dialogue? And wouldn't any worthwhile author have chafed constantly at the inadequacy of words-- let alone explicit dialogue-- to express what he or she wants to say? Some scholars nowadays, to be sure, regard the "text" or "discourse" as the starting point for any further commentary; but I doubt it.
Photographically this film is nothing short of lyrical, as many professional critics have noted. We get a full fifteen minutes that should stun and fascinate us with no dialogue at all; and many crucial subsequent scenes, too, are wordless. Me, I'm a musician, who can agree with observations that the score was sometimes a hodge-podge; I'm woefully incompetent at any visual art. But I'm not blind: I hope that I can at least recognize visual mastery when I see it. I, too, once felt that the second half of the film-- after Alec and The Black had returned to civilization-- was distinctly more prosaic than the first half. But repeated viewings have persuaded me otherwise: that when I'd thought that the film was becoming weak or inept, I was missing a point. Now I applaud the insight of IMDb's "Invariable Self," who entitled his comment, "A beautiful film about solitude, interdependence, survival, and achievement." That's it-- I'd even go further and say, beyond "solitude", "isolation": and it doesn't stop halfway through.
We see this first at the juncture: one moment The Black is being lifted (only at Alec's insistence) onto the rescue ship. The next moment, a little girl back 'home' in a suburban school assembly is reading her doggerel poem about how Alec and his horse had survived together. The young pupil did her best to describe their experience, and she captured a few essential things about it-- but we are impressed more by how much she missed.
For all her love and good intentions, Alec's bond with The Black is a mystery to his mother, too. This cluelessness is apparent most poignantly in a later scene when she and her son simply don't connect, and both are powerless to express themselves. Thrown back on words, Alec, half-orphaned in a terrifying catastrophe of which she knows no details, hesitates, stutters. His mutterings are more eloquent than any oration. 'Alexander's father... gave him Bucephalus... before he died... I have to ride.' Good woman, she nods, at last, in resigned affirmation of something in her son that she doesn't understand.
This isolation is maintained to the end. Later, Henry Daily admonishes Alec: "Secrecy! You and I-- we have a secret! Do you understand?" But is even Henry privy to the shared experience between Alec and the Black? Apparently not.
We might think that we have been vouchsafed the secret by the end if this film-- but there is a sequel. And, for once, it might be plausible to think: yes, the depths of The Black have not even yet been plumbed.
Admittedly, I have not read the book, so I can't comment on whether the film was true to it. However, if a film is to be faithful to what lies behind an author's words, it must do so in visual ways. I'd ask, to be faithful to the book, wouldn't a script be something more than a transcription of dialogue? And wouldn't any worthwhile author have chafed constantly at the inadequacy of words-- let alone explicit dialogue-- to express what he or she wants to say? Some scholars nowadays, to be sure, regard the "text" or "discourse" as the starting point for any further commentary; but I doubt it.
Photographically this film is nothing short of lyrical, as many professional critics have noted. We get a full fifteen minutes that should stun and fascinate us with no dialogue at all; and many crucial subsequent scenes, too, are wordless. Me, I'm a musician, who can agree with observations that the score was sometimes a hodge-podge; I'm woefully incompetent at any visual art. But I'm not blind: I hope that I can at least recognize visual mastery when I see it. I, too, once felt that the second half of the film-- after Alec and The Black had returned to civilization-- was distinctly more prosaic than the first half. But repeated viewings have persuaded me otherwise: that when I'd thought that the film was becoming weak or inept, I was missing a point. Now I applaud the insight of IMDb's "Invariable Self," who entitled his comment, "A beautiful film about solitude, interdependence, survival, and achievement." That's it-- I'd even go further and say, beyond "solitude", "isolation": and it doesn't stop halfway through.
We see this first at the juncture: one moment The Black is being lifted (only at Alec's insistence) onto the rescue ship. The next moment, a little girl back 'home' in a suburban school assembly is reading her doggerel poem about how Alec and his horse had survived together. The young pupil did her best to describe their experience, and she captured a few essential things about it-- but we are impressed more by how much she missed.
For all her love and good intentions, Alec's bond with The Black is a mystery to his mother, too. This cluelessness is apparent most poignantly in a later scene when she and her son simply don't connect, and both are powerless to express themselves. Thrown back on words, Alec, half-orphaned in a terrifying catastrophe of which she knows no details, hesitates, stutters. His mutterings are more eloquent than any oration. 'Alexander's father... gave him Bucephalus... before he died... I have to ride.' Good woman, she nods, at last, in resigned affirmation of something in her son that she doesn't understand.
This isolation is maintained to the end. Later, Henry Daily admonishes Alec: "Secrecy! You and I-- we have a secret! Do you understand?" But is even Henry privy to the shared experience between Alec and the Black? Apparently not.
We might think that we have been vouchsafed the secret by the end if this film-- but there is a sequel. And, for once, it might be plausible to think: yes, the depths of The Black have not even yet been plumbed.