The Silver Brumby

Before Russell Crowe blew up big time in North America, he did a few peculiar little flicks in his homeland of Australia. A couple rowdy gang stories popped up, and then he appeared in a little seen film called The Silver Stallion, or The Silver Brumby, which means horse in down-under-talk. Horse flicks are a dime a dozen and can go either way, usually pinning their focus on a target audience of adolescent viewers. This one is more of a visual tone poem than any sort of grand planned narrative, letting the horses do most of the emoting and character work, with the humans showing up now and again to provide their side of the story. An Australian mother (Caroline Goodall) tells her daughter (Amiel Daemien) tales of the prince of the brumbies, a member of a feral tribe of horses who has been separated from his heard and must find a way back. A relentless outback Man (Crowe) is dead set on both capturing and taming the silver Brumby, a quest which leads him to the very precipice of desperation. The horse traverses mountains, plains and many acres of beautiful northern Australian countryside to reunite with his clan. The scenes with just horses are amazing when one considers just how tough it must have been to coherently get them all together and have them interact according to the shots which the filmmakers needed to get. Quite the achievement indeed. The cinematography is pure misty magic, with both animal and nature alike providing some truly unforgettable images on screen. Crowe is excellent, with a wild glint in his eye, quite committed to the character. There's an overarching and altogether mythic tone to this film that always left me in awe when I saw it as a youngster. One gets the sense of true lore unfolding in front of us, the camera and script creating a piece of celluloid that's purely entrenched in Australian storytelling, bringing it alive in the most visually impressive way possible. Very much worth your time, if you can track down a copy.

I usually have pretty low expectations for "children's movies" not to mention animal adventures. This film turned out to be a fabulous surprise in every way. Sure, I came to it solely to finish out my search for Russell Crowe films; but I came away extremely moved by both the story, the breathtaking visuals of Australia and the lack of heavyhandedness so usually present in these films. This film provided a mesmerizing, compelling film experience. Oh yeah...Russell looks absolutely gorgeous..... Try it...you'll be glad you did.

I truly wish that this movie would have been shown in theatres in the US instead of going directly to video. The visuals were absolutely stunning, especially the scenes of the brumbies galloping freely.

The basic premise of the story about the Man's obsession for the Silver Brumby was excellent. The medium of the mother relating the story to her daughter was also handled well, but some of the other scenes with the mother and daughter distracted from the flow of the film. Especially the scenes with the kangaroo. To me they seemed disjointed as if they were just thrown in hodgepodge.

Overall I loved the movie and will watch it again for the Australian scenery and horse scenes.

King of the Silver Brumbies is the story of Thowra, the Silver Stallion. Born of the wind to powerful parents, this horse prince learns, loves and loses in the wild bush of Australia. Like Hamlet facing madness, Thowra uses intelligence to regain his family but ends up losing much more while the legend lives on. This is the main plot and storyline -- but there is a deeper message.

Man's ability to adapt to his environment causes conflict and chaos in nature. His need to conquer, this gift/curse from Pandora of greed and the desire to possess, forces submission upon proud beasts and destroys the nature that should bring him peace. This battle between man and beast plays throughout the story while the message of unity with nature is pressed on.

The ability to feel the messages of the trees, the soothing comfort of the wind, the healing rays of the sun is epitomized as the answer to all of man's problems. Through the power of knowledge, love of family and strength of conviction -- and overall else, faith in the world around him -- Thowra conquers his fears and finds his rightful place in the complex network of nature. Unfortunately, as is the point above, man is not a part of nature, and his greedy determination can destroy, but in the end, no one can tame the truly free.

A beautifully filmed story, it takes us to the breathtaking highlands of Australia, showing us the raw forces of its landscapes, skies and inhabitants. Also well acted by veterans Caroline Goodall of Shindler's List and a younger, very handsome if somewhat typical Russell Crowe of Gladiator fame. Mr. Crowe seems well in his element, accent and all. One can tell straight-off -- this is his territory. Ms. Goodall does a superb job of immortalizing Thowra's spirit with dignity and respect.

Overall a wonderful story for children 8+ (especially girls with a love of horses) and those lucky individuals who happen to be young at heart.

I have to admit that there were a few times when my attention wandered. Perhaps that's not surprising. It's a family movie - one that really should be watched with children, I suppose, but it intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First because it was set in and filmed on location in the northern Australian countryside (and faraway - from my perspective in Canada - Australia fascinates me) and I have to say that the scenery and cinematography were brilliant. It captured the setting well and transported the viewer into that context, including some spectacular scenes involving the horses which must have been difficult to film. Second, because (although I'm not a passionate fan of his) this was a very early role for Russell Crowe before he became familiar to North American audiences as THE Russell Crowe, and that made me curious. So I tuned in for those two reasons and was not disappointed.

The film revolves around the adventures of a magnificent and wild silver stallion who roams the countryside and who claims the attention of Darcy (Crowe) - "The Man" - who wants to capture him. Darcy is usually referred to as "The Man" by the narrator (Caroline Goodall) - which establishes the tone of the movie. Humanity is the intruder here, the adversary, even the enemy. What matters is freedom for these horses and "The Man" (and all of humanity) stands in the way of that freedom. The point is made very clearly. The story unfolds as it's shared by Elyne (also Goodall) with her daughter Indi (Amiel Daemion.) It's a mythical sort of tale - but we eventually discover, as we all know, that there's a kernel of truth behind all myths. Crowe, Goodall and Daemion were all fine, but the star is the Australian scenery and wildlife, and especially the wild stallions and Thowra - the mythic Silver Brumby. If Darcy represents the threat of humanity, Elyne is its hope and Indi has to learn. Elyne's relationship with Indi is actually in many ways a parallel to Thowra's relationship with his mother BelBel. Both Thowra and Indi have to learn some lessons about life and freedom from their mothers. Indi hates the idea of Thowra being captured and losing his freedom, but when she and her mother take in an injured baby kangaroo and nurse it back to health, Indi becomes attached and doesn't want to set it free. Through both the experience with the kangaroo and the story of Thowra, Indi learns how valuable freedom is. The movie ends with what I thought was a powerful testimony to the desire to be free and the closing credits roll while a truly haunting theme song ("Son Of The Wind") is played.

I understand this movie was based on a series of Australian novels. Some suggest that the adaptation isn't very good. I've never read the novels (and had never heard of the story until I discovered the movie) so that's of no concern to me. I'd highly recommend this for family viewing, but even for an adult, there's a lot here to enjoy, even if the family oriented theme does at times cause your thoughts to wander a bit as an adult. But they never wander too far, because there's always something to bring you back.