La horse

"La horse" is the kind of movie no one mentions but it is definitely one you must have seen as it's superb! We are put in some French village at where everybody knows everyone and at where we find a farmer's family that's been led by the dictatorial Jean Gabin who only believes in one word "work". The man's dream got totally splattered when one of his sons is involved in drug traffic and brings the white powder to the farm. Gabin thinks that throwing it away solves all problems but of course the mob wants their stuff back... What then follows is a superb exciting piece of a movie in where the contrasts between the old French and the new ones are explored in great 70's cinematographic arts. Superb movies that is over before you realize it. Also musical score by the godlike Serge Gainsbourg!

Ever the tough guy, Jean Gabin plays a steely farm owner who runs a strict operation. When his grandson becomes involved with dangerous criminals, the family farm becomes a battleground. Gabin defends his home from the gangsters using equally brutal measures and traps. In addition to the criminals, the police begin to look in on the farm and the numerous deaths. Not Gabin's most complex performance, nor the most well constructed gangster flick, La Horse is still a satisfying, bloody thriller which is plenty fun worth looking for.

That's a movie where Jean Gabin played a character very close to his real life, because the great French actor as a peasant, besides studios lots, this was his life, his DNA, his purpose. He made movies only to buy lands and take care of his farm, his horses, his cattle. So, you see, this role was made for him. For L'AFFAIRE DOMINICI, it will be more or less the same. The family head among peasants, but of course in another formula. Here a bunch of hoodlums, drug traffic high scale gangsters, are dealing with ordinary but die hard peasants. This emphasizes on the contrast between those urban villains and the good countryside men. Typical French crime film form the late sixties. A cult film for Gabin fans. And the music score is fabulous too.

I had not known this film before, I ran into a photo of a helicopter which was a capture from it and I became curious. I am very happy I have seen this movie, it is one of the best I could see these last months. It is that kind of story of a very strong character, a man who feels responsible for his family and does whatever he can to keep the honor intact. Even though, at first, he thinks he can do it all by himself, he soon discovers that if one wants to help one's family, one needs the family's help. The main character, that of Jean Gabin, is the image of the old French farmer and landowner, who is subjected to his land and rules his home like a dictator. No one dares to talk back to him, or, if any does, the old man knows how to shut his mouth. And when a danger appears that threatens the family, he does not hesitate for a second to react radically. When the danger becomes even greater, Maurice uses the help of his sons-in-law, and I think this is the moment they finally become family. The last one who proves to be a member of the family will be Henri; found in his cellar by the police, he finds the exact words and action that discharge him and his grandpa in the eyes of the law, and in the last scene of the film, he accepts his status of a farmer, by accompanying his old men to work. All in all, I liked this film very much and I will recommend it to my friends.

Weak direction, sloppy photography, a script with more holes than Swiss cheese, and some rampant animal cruelty all make LA HORSE a mediocre and immediately forgettable flick.

An aging Gabin - solid performance, full of menacing looks - runs his farm and family with a shotgun and he thinks nothing of blasting away the gang of drug runners, and he keeps mum to police, who - thankfully - are not very persistent in their investigation.

Happy ending after plenty of corpses. Buy it at your peril!