L'étalon d'argent

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.

Unlike the other reviewers (it appears), I came to this movie after a long love affair with the original story*. I borrowed 'The Silver Brumby' off of a friends mother as a child, and read it six times through before handing it back. It is one of those stories that just captures the heart and the imagination, and is truly an Australian classic.

I was 12yo when the movie was released. Now, 11 years and many viewings later, I feel a little melancholy that while they did a wonderful job, they may have just missed the mark in some aspects. The subplot of Elyne Mitchell and her daughter Indi was never in the book, and I do feel it was ultimately unnecessary and more often than not disrupted the movies flow. The 'Man' was portrayed as to hard, almost possessed. True he was fairly obsessed by Thowra, but he also greatly respected him, and the bush in general. I also missed Storm, Thowra's bay half brother, who was such a large part in the story and a personal favourite of mine. It was bordering on being a bit sugary at times as well. On the other hand some scenes were just about perfect, like the pages of the book come to life before my eyes, and for that I'm very thankful. The soundtrack also is beautiful, and particularly haunting during the final chase.

There are other small changes that seem unnecessary to me, such as the blending of Golden's owner and 'the man on the black horse' into one person when in the book they were separate people, but I suppose they thought that children would get confused (a common, and often wrong, assumption from my experience) so they strove to simplify it as much as possible. Ultimately I feel that the story was simplified too much, therefore losing some of the depth and power of the original.

Over all the visuals were about perfect, the story surprisingly close to the original for a lot of it (unlike many other book to movie adaptations), the sense of magic and mystery quite well portrayed. You could really feel that the bush was almost a character in it's own right. After 11 years I still thoroughly enjoy watching it (unlike the total travesty of the cartoon series released in the late 90's which was mildly horrendous even by young children's cartoon standards).

As a book to movie adaptation I give it 5 out of 10. As a movie in it's own right, 7 1/2 out of 10.

*I'd urge any child, or adult who still loves a tales full of wonder, joy and excitement, to seek out the source material. There are 6 books in the original series, written from 1958 to 1973. 1. 'The Silver Brumby', 2. 'Silver Brumby's Daughter', 3. 'Silver Brumbies of the South', 4. 'Silver Brumby Kingdom', 5. 'Silver Brumby Whirlwind' and 6. 'Son of the Whirlwind'. There is also 'Moon Filly' which was written between numbers 4 & 5 and ties into the later books. From 1993 onwards she added more to the saga; 'Silver Brumby, Silver Dingo', 'Dancing Brumby', 'Brumbies of the Night', 'Dancing Brumby's Rainbow' and 'The Thousandth Brumby'. I don't think these later books quite match up to the earlier ones, but they are still most enjoyable and it is lovely to read about the later generations. Elyne Mitchell is also the author of many other books for both adults and children. I could not recommend her highly enough.

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.

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.