MOVIE CRITIC - WHO ME?

I must confess that I am not much of a movie goer and hence neither am I a movie critic. However, this past weekend we went to the movie War Horse. We choose it as some sort of a compromise as we had the usual discussion regarding 'men movies' and  'chick flicks.' War Horse was the compromise.



Albert and Joey



This movie is based on a children's novel written in England in 1982. A poor Devon farmer buys a thoroughbred horse when he was supposed to buy a plough horse. Eventually the son Albert (Jeremy Irvine)  teaches the horse, which he names Joey by the way, to plough. But there was more, for want of a better description, they become very attached to each other. Both Albert and Joey end up in the middle of World War I.

We both enjoyed the movie but thought the war scenes in no-man's land went on far too long. However, not only did the movie hold our attention throughout, but it brought back many memories, good ones I might say, from my past. We octogenarians are told that there is a decline in our brains processing speed as we get older. At least in some areas. I find this to be true when the task at hand requires online processing to be carried out while, at the same time, I am expected to hold information available in my mind. This is especially true when attempting to learn how to operate a new electronic gadget like a cellular phone or figure out the recent procedural changes for posting a Google blog!

But War Horse was special because it triggered many episodic events from my youth. And mulling them over in my mind was a wonderful and pleasant experience. As a teenager growing up in New Brunswick in the 1940's life was good, in spite of the constant reminders of WW II.  A family, who lived next to our summer cottage on the Saint John River, had a number of riding horses. I even remember some of their names: Barney, a obstreperous pony, Red Sails an  almost wild and spirited animal who so reminded me of Joey in the movie and  Paddy, a kind and forgiving animal. As kids growing up we had access to these wonderful horses and they were very much a part of our lives. Great memories from my youth, memories stirred up by the events in War Horse. I thank War Horse for reviving them for me.



In the Trenches in No-Man;s Land



It is true however, there was at least one bad episodic memory stirred by this movie. In WW I my Uncle Tom suffered in that horrible place called 'no-man's land.' As the scene unfolded before us on the screen I kept seeing him there, enduring the hardships, and eventually being killed. He died near the end of the Battle of the Somme, on October 12, 1916 at the age of twenty-two. Obviously, I did not know him, but his spirit lived in our family for many years. My mother often talked about her older brother. No doubt that is why I found that portion of the movie too long. I wanted it put behind me.

So the experts on aging brains tell me I am not as "smart" as I used to be. But I tell them it is wonderful being able to recall great memories of my youth, to re-live them in my mind and on the movie screen...even if at times they are only memories of some horses we truly loved as kids.

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week