The Silver Brumby

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.

I absolutely loved the movie. It was a very enjoyable and moving film to watch after the hectic pace of Christmas . The idea and the entire story was quite captivating to me, I didn't even want to stop to get a glass of water. Excellent job on all fronts. Way to go folks. The scenery and the sound track was wonderful , very believable for sure. Watched this movie with a friend and she too was very taken with the whole story line. Really makes a person want to believe in humanity and the better treatment of all of God's creatures. I also thought the voice used in the telling of the story of this movie made it very endearing and drew you into the story very much so. This film will definitely be recommended to all of my friends as a good family movie.

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.

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.

Well, in my continuing quest to see every movie Russell Crowe was ever in, I stumbled across this little film. (As long as I'm disclosing biases, I might as well mention that I have not read Elyne Mitchell's novel.)

It is a film for children--specifically, girls ages 8-12 or so who love horses. And they will love it. Younger children may be disturbed by some of the content; these are wild horses trying to survive in the wild, in all weather and situations.

It's framed as a fable, with Elyne Mitchell (Caroline Goodall) writing a story for her daughter Indi (Amiel Daemion) about Thowra, the great silver brumby, and the Man (Russell Crowe) who wants to tame him.

It's meant to be a fable, which explains how all these wild horses are so beautifully groomed. The horses also occasionally seem to be deaf, since they fail to react at all to sounds that any horse would prick its ears at.

As a horse film, it's highly successful. We see lots of lovely horses, doing fascinating horse things. The horse part of the movie is perfectly developed.

The humans are more troublesome. I suspect that Mrs. Mitchell and her daughter were not characters in the book; adding them causes a fundamental shift in the relationships between the characters. Instead of relationships between Thowra and other horses (especially the Brolga, his archrival) and between Thowra and the Man, the most important relationships are those between humans (between the two Mitchells, between Indi and the various men who catch and tame brumbies) and between humans and nature, with the relationships among the horses and of the humans to the horses receding into the background.

Instead of a simple pair of conflicts--between Thowra and the Brolga (the natural challenge); between Thowra and the Man (the unnatural challenge)--we get instead a large number of relationships, which changes the entire dynamic.

Despite these problems, the new concept could have worked, if simplified a bit. The basic point is that both Indi and the Man love Thowra, and for the same reasons: he is beautiful, strong, proud, and free. However, because Indi loves Thowra, she wants him to remain free; because the Man loves Thowra, he wants to own and tame the horse.

Such a conflict could have provided ample opportunity for lessons on "listening to the bush" and on the difference and inherent contradiction between love and possession (etc., etc.).

In the film, however, the Mitchells dominate. Elyne gives her daughter lessons on nature and life, with the help of an injured kangaroo they find, which serves to teach that wild things belong in the wild, that if you truly care about something you give it its freedom--all lessons that could have been communicated via the story of Thowra. (I loved the kangaroo, but it wasn't necessary.) Meanwhile, the Man is underdeveloped, and sometimes demonized--which runs entirely counter to the purpose of the film. The Man is not evil, just obsessed.

The filmmakers undoubtedly decided to focus on the girl and her mother because that's their audience. A reasonable decision, and yet one which weakens the film.

Overall, a nice, solid horse film which should be very popular with its target audience.