The Silver Brumby

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.

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.

Beautifully done movie. The landscape scenes are breathtaking. The horses are all gorgeous (esp. Thowra) and the music is haunting. The scenes with the mother and daughter sometimes interrupt the flow, but it's mostly horse footage. And yes Russell Crowe is a hunk as always.

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.

This movie is not great, but it's worth viewing, especially for hardcore Russell Crowe fans. It's really interesting to see him acting in this sort of film, way before he made it big with Gladiator. His acting has definitely improved since The Silver Brumby, fortunately. He's come a long way, and that is plain to see.