★ 5 / 10
_**Aesthetically pleasing, but dramatically dull**_ A boy befriends
Wuchak
_**Aesthetically pleasing, but dramatically dull**_ A boy befriends a fiery Arabian stallion in the Mediterranean in 1946 and ends up hooking up with an…
_**Aesthetically pleasing, but dramatically dull**_
A boy befriends a fiery Arabian stallion in the Mediterranean in 1946 and ends up hooking up with an ex-horse racing trainer (Mickey Rooney) back home in the northeast USA. Teri Garr plays the mother.
"The Black Stallion" (1979) starts out like Tarzan’s origin, just substituting the horse for the apes, before switching to the typical sports formula (young underdog’s talent is recognized and trained by an over-the-hill mentor). Thankfully, this is not a Disney kiddie flick; the tone is artistic and mature with the same visual/audio wonder of “The Secret Garden” (1993), both movies produced by Francis Ford Coppola.
While it’s as aesthetically awesome as “The Secret Garden,” it’s not as dramatically engaging. Teri Garr's role is negligible and Rooney’s character isn’t interesting like, say, Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid” (1984) or even Nick Nolte’s ‘Socrates’ in “Peaceful Warrior” (2006). Either Garr’s part needed beefed up or the scriptwriters should’ve added another character to the mix, like a girl who befriends the boy, but SOMETHING to keep things compelling.
As it is, the story is too dull to maintain the interest of most people over 7 years-old. But the stallion is magnificent and I appreciated the relationship between boy & beast, not to mention the excellent post-war era décor and the afore-noted artistic exquisiteness.
The film runs 1 hour, 57 minutes, and was shot in Sardinia, Italy (island sequences), and the Toronto area of Canada, with some stuff done in northwest Oregon (Astoria, Gearhart and Nehalem).
GRADE: C+
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★ 8 / 10
Great acting by Kelly Reno
artist-galaxy
I just saw the film (I know, I know,- it's an old,old film) and I was transfixed by the acting performance by the kid, Kelly Reno. It is strange how life turns…
I just saw the film (I know, I know,- it's an old,old film) and I was transfixed by the acting performance by the kid, Kelly Reno. It is strange how life turns her fate in a one-moments incident that changes life forever. This is something many of us have come to understand. Still, I wonder what Kelly would have accomplished in the film industry, had he not suffered from his accident. His portrayal of Alec Ramsey was so believable, that I was certain he made many more films. All we can do, is hope that our lives turn out to be happy and fulfilling. I have learned to live for the moment and I hope he has, too.
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★ 8 / 10
Absolutely stunning film, a wonderful animal story
medic249a2
Francis Ford Coppola was a busy man in 1979; his Vietnam War epic 'Apocalypse Now' had been released earlier that year, and he was soon at work on another…
Francis Ford Coppola was a busy man in 1979; his Vietnam War epic 'Apocalypse Now' had been released earlier that year, and he was soon at work on another project - a marvelous story about a boy and an Arabian stallion marooned on a remote island after a shipwreck. That project, of course, was 'The Black Stallion' - often considered Coppola's 'forgotten child' of 1979.
Some of Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' crew also worked on 'The Black Stallion'; namely producers Fred Roos & Tom Sternberg and Coppola's father Carmine, who wrote the beautiful, moving score that surrounds the film. For direction, Coppola handed over the director's chair to Carroll Ballard, whose very capable hand made this film absolutely stunning.
The story is well known, from Walter Farley's classic novel - a young boy, who escapes a shipwreck off North Africa with a horse he had helped rescue, bonds forever with the animal after they are washed up on an island. After being rescued the two return to the United States, where Alec keeps the beautiful horse in his backyard. When an innocent garbage man triggers a fear in the horse's mind, the animal escapes to a farm owned by a former jockey & horse trainer, Henry Dailey. When young Alec follows the horse to the barn, he asks Dailey if there's ever a way to learn to ride him. Dailey is skeptical at first; the horse is considered wild, and no papers exist. He does, however, start teaching Alec the ways of riding, and they are soon making runs with the horse - now known as 'The Black' - on a racetrack. The day comes when Dailey shows the horse to a reporter, who promotes the animal as a 'Mystery Horse' to challenge the country's fastest Thoroughbreds in a race. Alec will ride The Black in the challenge match - to a triumphant finish...
The photography is absolutely spectacular; most of the island shots (done in Sardinia) are made with no dialogue, which some have called 'meaningful silence', with only Carmine Coppola's soundtrack in the background - piano chords as the horse kills the cobra and a spectacular trumpet fanfare as Alec looks up at The Black standing on a cliff. Great care was taken to make the city shots (done in Toronto) realistic; the racetrack shots especially reflect this. The costumes and vehicles are authentic for the period - this was especially true on race day when The Black goes up against the 2 thoroughbreds.
Unfortunately, this great work was largely ignored by AMPAS at that year's Academy Awards; this is absolutely shameful as this photography rivals that of Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' from the same year.
All around, this is one of the finest family movies ever made. I saw it when I was around 8 in the theater and did not see it again until I was about 39, when I showed it to my little girl (who loves horses). I give it an 8/10.
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