Voleurs de chevaux

Set "somewhere in the East, around 1856", this action/costume film is a revenge story between two 'couples' of brothers. Jakub and Vladimir, two young Cossacks who suffer terrible humiliations during their military training and Roman and Elias (the two horse thieves of the title). After a terrible tragedy, Jakub leaves his regiment and tracks down the two thieves with what looks like a samurai's sense of honor and dignity. Shot in beautiful landscapes, with a minimum of dialogs, an impressive music, and an epic ambition, this blind and brutal race towards a metamorphosis (to free himself, Jakub will also have to become an outlaw) is also a study of dependence struggles (the two elder ones taking a role of father and imposing their choices to their youngest brothers). To appreciate this film, one needs to be sensitive to children's stories with a simple framework, disregard a certain awkwardness, and accept a very literary narration (three chapters announced by three titles: Him, Them, Manhunt), and a depiction of rough characters, the oldest thief (Roman, played by Grégoire Colin) almost turning into a kind of caricature.

'Voleurs de chevaux' is a sort of equestrian western which was obviously made on a low budget. The reconstitution of a mythical European mid-19th century often misses what the big Masters made of it (one can't help thinking of Kubrick with Barry Lyndon, or Kurozawa with Dersou Ouzala). Micha Vald took a risk, but there is an undeniable 'soul' which animates his beautiful story: the confrontation, crimes and vendetta of the four brothers, bathed in the cold light of a poisonous and solitary nature. Between the end of their adolescence and the beginning of maturity, the four characters compose a striking fresco, which owes most of its success to the actors' performances. One can't help taking one's hat off to this group of very young actors who support the whole film: Adrien Jolivet and Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet on one side, and Grégoire Colin and François-René Dupont on the other side. We won't forget the charm of theses ferocious dogs for quite a while.

Brutal to the point of pointless. The over-repeated ring of bones crunching, snapping and breaking is what you shall take away with you. A wasted opportunity, considering the time, place and people in history are much neglected by western cinema.

The violence, which hogs everything, even itself becomes dramatically repetitive. The whole, inevitable, boring thing underscored by a vaguely religious male choral electronic musical voice which becomes camper and camper as the violence becomes more absurd.

The landscape is all but ignored. The people largely reduced and the protagonists used to synthesize the maker's own indulgent idea of tragedy and masculine beauty. Sadly,the taught notion that thoughtless brutality is somehow elevating when contrasted with the prettiness of youth (or is it meant to be the other way around?) just felt immature rather than informed or emotionally meaningful.

Such a waste. Just to add in it's favour, that the leads did bring good performances.

So far I've watched this film twice, without the assistance of subs though I don't understand French - to have been entirely enthralled throughout. Seldom are films of this caliber made, with what can be imagined as totally unrelenting period authenticity combined with unflinching performances by the well-cast leads. If there were only 7 truly different fictions in existence, just told slightly varying ways - this must be story #8. It has an utterly refreshing originality about it which reveals human nature in a raw sort of honest way we should see much more often. The degree of homo-eroticism is variable depending on your point of view - though very subtle, it is certainly there in appropriate proportions. Bound to become a cult classic!

Truly this is such a great film. Right from the start you will be gripped by this film and you will sit watching it with total attention until its completion. The drama is so well constructed, but there is so much more to the film than that.

The four main characters are two sets of brothers surviving on the edge. Life at the beginning of the 19th century is very tough and so these brothers are very closely bonded. You might say there is a homo-erotic element to this film, however although I am a gay many myself I don't think these closely bonded males are in any way being depicted as gay. I think rather, they cling to each other because that is all the security they have.

I watched this film at home and a friend had suggested it to me. I didn't know anything about it before I started watching it. I think that it is probably set in Ukraine, but I am not sure. A quick bit of googling has not been very fruitful, from that I read simply that it is set in Eastern Europe.

The dialogue is sparse and in French. I watched it with English subtitles. However character development is excellent and the acting is first class as well.

I have not seen any films by Micha Wald before and I will most definitely be watching his other films in due course.

Micha Wald has created a strong masculine drama as writer and director of 'VOLEURS DE CHEVAUX' (IN THE ARMS OF MY ENEMY), a film with a grand sweeping view of nineteenth century life in the region of Russia and has accomplished this with a very small budget, a cast a both unknown and new actors, and a production crew sensitive to place and atmosphere. For some reason the marketing of this film has been directed to a particular audience instead of emphasizing the broad spectrum of those who love epic dramas. It deserves very wide attention, as it is an excellent meditation on the rigors of filial love among the destitute of the period.

Part I: Him: Jakub (Adrien Jolivet) is the diminutive but strong older brother of Vladimir (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), a gentle and handsome young lad who depends on Jakub's 'parenting'. The two destitute brothers fend for themselves, dressed in rags, begging for food and work, until they encounter a group of soldiers who are enlisting young men to be Cossacks. Jakub sees the opportunity for food and shelter and 'belonging' and encourages Vladimir to join him in enlisting. The rigors of 'boot camp' drive Jakub to dangerous extremes and result in his being punished and imprisoned for varying periods of time while he still masters fighting techniques and equestrian skills: the more defenseless Vladimir falls victim to abuses at the hands of his fellow recruits. When Jakub discovers that Vladimir has been raped, he resorts to serious fighting and the two brothers are placed in a solitary confinement box. When their training period is over, the boys witness the brutality of the Cossacks as they slaughter innocent families, and this is the breaking point that drives them to desertion. They escape the Cossacks on stolen horses, but while bathing in a river, their horses are stolen.

Part II: Them: The horse thieves are two other impoverished brothers with a strong parallel - Roman (Grégoire Colin) is the stronger, pugilistic older brother who takes care of his younger brother Elias (François-René Dupont), a gentle lad crippled in youth by a goring from a ram but who maintains an ability to communicate with animals. They live humbly in a forest shack and an underground hideaway, and when they make their rare excursions into the village tavern, Roman jealously guards the more fragile Elias, threatening even the girl Virina (Mylène St-Sauveur) with whom Elias is infatuated. Using a combination of their skills, Roman and Elias steal the horses of Jakub and Vladimir, and the trail of vengeance begins.

Part III: Us: Both sets of brothers are needy and their destinies collide due to the theft of horses. Tragedies mount, both sets of brothers intensify their filial bond of compassion, but the older brothers fight to the death of one and in the end one of the brothers provides succor to the survivor of the other set of brothers and the ending leaves the audience to guess the future altered by violence and need.

Micha Wald draws powerful performances from his young cast of beautiful actors and with a minimum of dialogue ( in French with English subtitles) he creates wholly credible characters about whom we care very much. The cinematography by Jean-Paul de Zaetijd is superb and the haunting musical score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, Jeff Mercelis and Stephan Micus is rich in capturing the harmonies of the music of the period and the location. In all, this is a visually stunning film and a story that is subtle and touching and impressively sophisticated in the manner in which it is told. Highly recommended. Grady Harp