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Post by circusdancer on Dec 13, 2009 0:17:26 GMT 1
I did the same this afternoon, switched the tv on and thought "Woah, I can't watch that", flicked around the channels but got drawn back to it. The first time I saw it I couldn't watch beyond twenty minutes. It is such painful viewing but one of the most powerful messages ever filmed. I don't just cry when I watch this film, I absolutely bawl my eyes out the whole way through! It's incredibly sad but entirely realistic even in today's society.
Lizpurlo, the film probably reaches a wider audience than the book. It captures the range of abuse that goes on, albeit in much smaller detail, but it is thought provoking for anyone that hadn't previously looked at situations from the horse's point of view. Nothing can ever be taken away from Anna Sewell's creation but by recreating her intent through the medium of film can only be good for horses.
As for whether she was an animal communicator, I don't know. She was obviously incredibly observant and sympathetic to their plight but sadly the abuse is still going on, despite her observations over two centuries ago. I'm sure when she wrote the book, she wouldn't have imagined that 200 years down the line, nothing much would have changed. There are still people out there that are ignorant of horse welfare, don't read books but they might watch a film and take something from it.
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Daz
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Post by Daz on Dec 13, 2009 0:51:34 GMT 1
I've never managed to watch much of the film, though I have tried... but I'm afraid it just winds me up, and I've always turned it off in disgust! The book is utterly superb and was the first ever horsey book I read - and I still go back and read it now. The film just over simplifies the story imho and seems clunky and clumsy to me. Film-makers HAVE to do that, though. If you were to make the novel into a film in its entirety, it'd be about four hours long. They have to break the story down into the most relevant points of the plot, and weave the rest of it into a workable narrative. I remember reading The Horse Whisperer some years back (long before I was into horses) and seeing the film for the first time a couple of years ago. Yes, there was TONS left out of the film that was in the book, but they HAD to do that: 1) To make the story work on film, and 2) To reach a wider audience. Don't forget, the novel is very graphic, but by including all of that you immediately lose a huge chunk of your potential audience. That's also why so many big budget action films these days are PG/12a, because they cost so damn much to make that they need more bums on seats to get their money back! Personally, I think the film adaptation of The Horse Whisperer works well as a separate entity to the book. The ending is much simpler, but at the same time it's a lot deeper when you look beyond it.
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Post by lizpurlo on Dec 13, 2009 1:31:13 GMT 1
Yup, I know where you're coming from, Daren and CD - it's just that I know and love the book so well and the pictures in my head when I read it bear no resemblance to the pictures on the screen, and I just feel like screaming 'no, no, that's all wrong, that's not how it was in the book...!' For just the same reason I could never watch the ghastly TV adaptation of 'The Irish RM' some years ago - that is the best, funniest and most beautiful book ever written about Ireland and its people and horses and to read it is to enter another glorious world.
I know directors are obliged to shorten and simplify for a mass audience - and I can only hope that anyone who sees the film of Black Beauty is inspired enough to find a copy of the book and read it, if they haven't already done so - it's so much more than just a nice storybook for children.
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Post by troop on Dec 13, 2009 8:30:59 GMT 1
i watched it on and off yesterday i had to keep turning over and hoovering up between tears mum thought i was crazy then she got tearful when ginger died ..... oh heck im welling up now its so sad and makes me never want to sell my horses........
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Post by jackiedo on Dec 13, 2009 9:16:50 GMT 1
"My doctrine is this... If we see cruelty, or wrongdoing that we have the power to change, and do nothing... then we make ourselves sharer in the guilt.." Anna Sewell, Black Beauty
I have that book on my shelf and read it again and again, and yes, the film does make me cry too...
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Post by marianne on Dec 13, 2009 12:06:45 GMT 1
I sobbed through most of it too. I hadn't seen this particular version (I'm more familiar with the Mark Lester one) and it certainly seems to REALLY get the horse's perspective across.
It didn't help I really identified Beauty, Ginger and Merrylegs with the first 3 horses I had together: My Kingster, his 'girlie' who didn't want to acknowledge him for ages, and Rocky the pony who always got into such mischief!
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Post by sandy on Dec 13, 2009 12:44:25 GMT 1
lizpurlo wrote 'I do wonder though - was Anna Sewell an animal communicator?'.
I also wonder because I think Anna had an accident as a child, breaking or injuring her ankles which left her an invalid all her life. She also lived in a city. She doesnt seem to have ridden but gained her experiences from the working horses that she saw. Could she have been an animal communicator? We'll never know!
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oberon
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Post by oberon on Dec 13, 2009 13:43:33 GMT 1
Having read the book hundereds of times I have to say I find the 1994 film excellent and as faithful as a film can be. I cry at everything but I don't find the film too painful to watch. Ian Kelsey did an wonderful job as Joe when he discovers Beauty at the sale. That is the point I bawl at . There have been a few screen versions of Black Beauty (the dreadful 1974 film, the great 1980s tv series and the bizarre 1990 tv series) but none of them have borne any part of the book, other than the name of the horse. I was thrilled when I first watched the 1994 film and saw scenes I recognised
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Post by olliebear on Dec 13, 2009 17:44:54 GMT 1
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Anna Sewell had a disability, but it did not stop her riding. She simply had her side saddle adapted so that the pommels were on the off side instead of the near side. She also campaigned against bearing reins. What would she have thought of Rollkur!
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Daz
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Post by Daz on Dec 13, 2009 18:21:07 GMT 1
I seem to remember reading somewhere that Anna Sewell had a disability, but it did not stop her riding. She simply had her side saddle adapted so that the pommels were on the off side instead of the near side. She also campaigned against bearing reins. What would she have thought of Rollkur! From Wikipedia:
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Post by ProgFrock on Dec 13, 2009 21:34:32 GMT 1
There have been a few screen versions of Black Beauty (the dreadful 1974 film, the great 1980s tv series and the bizarre 1990 tv series) but none of them have borne any part of the book, other than the name of the horse. The 1974 film is completely dreadful but does have some great comedy moments in the hunting scene... mostly because it looks like the people riding have never been on horses in their lives and will fall off at any minute (I pitied the poor horses having to lump them around though). Cue the camera panning away as soon as things start getting hairy. But the BEST bit is the woman wearing a moustache in the same scene! I kid you not, I rewound the Tivo and watched it again with hubby in tow. It was definitely a woman in a hunting jacket... with a moustache! I guess they didn't have enough male "riders" that day!!
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline on Dec 14, 2009 0:11:39 GMT 1
I have certainly sobbed through Black Beauty enough times over the years, but I didn't know how powerfully it had affected me til I was walking through a sale yard a few months ago and heard a whinny that changed fates. It may not even have been her that whinnied, but seconds later I turned a corner and there she was - tied to a dealers lorry, half dead and hours from her appointment at the abertoire. My Beauty now has a field mate...have a guess what colour! (Her name's Peri, not Ginger though!) I think Black Beauty was one of the most powerful books ever written, from the point of view of horse welfare. It made people consider the idea that animals have feelings, feel pain, can suffer, can love and have a destiny and role in life. I think it reached people and changed the general consciousness.
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Daz
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Post by Daz on Dec 14, 2009 0:21:25 GMT 1
Funnily enough, when I was at the car boot sale this morning, a lady came over and bought two stuffed toy horses from me - and started talking about watching Black Beauty yesterday!
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Post by lizpurlo on Dec 14, 2009 2:15:00 GMT 1
Daren, that's really interesting about Anna Sewell. I'm sure that she was a communicator - and all the driving horses she met told her their stories. There are so many different types of horses in the book, and some lovely 'thumbnail sketches' - one I like being about the dun mare Peggy, which goes in pairs harness with BB, which he finds difficult as she keeps having to make a little jump forward to keep up. Exactly what any horse will do either under saddle or in harness if being pushed out of its natural rhythm.... and I like the fact that Peggy finds a good home too, where she is appreciated.
Progfrock... I find that virtually every film featuring horses is full of comedy moments like that.... the totally gratuitous whinneying at the most unlikely moments, the 'hunting scenes' in full summer where everyone's galloping along in front of the hounds, and so on - there was a (probably unintentionally) hilarious series on about a racehorse trainer a couple of years ago which was sooooo bad, it was terrific! But that's why I can't bear to watch films of books I love, like BB.
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Daz
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Post by Daz on Dec 14, 2009 9:53:38 GMT 1
Ahhh, I remember that programme - "Rough Diamond". It was rough, all right!
I have a large number of horsey films (did have more, but I had to cut down!) - have to say my favourite is not a typical horsey film at all! It's called "Into the West", and it's about two young traveller boys whose grandfather gives them a magical stallion that takes them on an adventure across Ireland. Great little film, and a stunning horse!
Then, of course, there's the likes of "Seabiscuit", "Champions" and "The Black Stallion"...
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