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Vol. 4, No. 844-845
SILENCE AND PATIENCE SPEAK IN 'WHISPERER'
Allan R. Andrews
American Reporter Correspondent
Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON -- At first, I thought the horse should get
an Academy Award nomination.
Then I learned from the credits that six horses were used to portray
Pilgrim in the filming of "The Horse Whisperer." I also
learned that one of those horses, High Tower, did most of the
showcase scenes involving the horse, so perhaps I can push for
the nomination of High Tower for the award.
Seriously, I came away judging this movie - despite the reserved
reviews it has received - as one of the year's best, and one which
should garner an Oscar nomination for somebody among its series
of fine performances (not including High Tower's).
My second reaction came to the plot. This movie has several love
stories going on at once, each of them more important in the long
run than the illicit love affair that brews between the protagonists
Tom Booker the horse whisperer (portrayed by Robert Redford, who
also directed the film), and Annie MacLean (Kristin Scott Thomas),
the New York editor on the go.
There is a love affair involving teenager Grace MacLean (Scarlett
Johansson) and her horse; another involving Tom Booker and the
horse; and still another significant loving friendship between
Booker and the teenager.
In the background are the love affairs of Annie MacLean
and her daughter and their struggling for understanding; the love
affair of Annie and her lawyer husband, Robert (Sam Neill), which
is going sour; and the love affair of Tom Booker's brother, Frank
(Chris Cooper) and his faithful ranch wife, Diane (Dianne Wiest),
which is as solid as the mountains of Montana, where much of the
movie is filmed.
Another subtle love story comes through in the photography --
director Redford's love affair with the Western United States.
The outdoor scenes are expansive exposures of Montana's rich rangeland
amid the Rockies.
Finally, a love story of sorts emerges from Redford's dealing
with the cowboy life apart from shoot-em-ups and banditos. In
a small way, the film glimpses the riding, branding, suppertimes,
and family gatherings of modern ranch life.
Perhaps Redford's crowning genius in communicating this
love affair shows in his casting of Don Edwards as Smokey, the
Booker's seasoned ranch hand.
Edwards probably embodies better than any entertainer still living
the popular romance of the Old West. Edwards, for those who may
not know it, is a cowboy singer and songwriter who has been called
"the purest cowboy singer alive," and has a half-dozen
or more pure cowboy recording albums in his repertoire. He's one
of the mainstays of the renowned Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko,
Nev., and since its inauguration in the early '90s has been a
charter star of Warner Brothers western music division.
"The Horse Whisperer" is not Edwards' first movie role,
but it is his most significant to date. Edwards' singing and that
of Allison Moorer are the authentic sound-track pieces released
in the CD album "from and inspired by" the film.
Moorer's song, "A Soft Place to Fall," provides the
background for the romantic dance scene involving Redford and
Thomas that replaces some of the steamy sex of the Nicholas Evans
novel that is the basis for the movie.
"The Horse Whisperer" has generated some controversy.
For one thing, Redford had the ending of Evans' novel rewritten.
I did not read the book, but my wife and a few friends did, and
they agree that Evans' written ending was a "cop-out"
that tried to tie up many loose ends too easily.
The end of the movie does not follow suit and leaves
some genuine tension in the air. Redford has also raised the eyebrows
of some working horse whisperers who suggest his solution to the
horse problem -- rather, writer Evans' solution -- reflects an
older horse-trainers' approach judged more cruel than humane.
Horse whispering, incidentally, is the name given to a modern
technique of breaking and training horses to make them rideable.
The modern approach involves quiet patience in a small training
corral and the use of hand signals and soft voices. The hobbling
of the animal in the movie is judged by some critics to be outdated
and unnecessary, though in the film it comes across in the end
as humane and poignantly successful.
"The Horse Whisperer" earns its PG-13 rating from its
early scene of violent accidental death and the maiming of a teenager
and her horse. From that scene on, the movie is quiet and patient.
Which brings me to my final reaction to the film's silences. Several
critics rapped the movie for being overly long and drawn (it runs
for 2 hours and 46 minutes), but I find that criticism misses
the power of silence and
quiet communication that is so important a theme of the story.
Crucial scenes involve actors' eye contact, especially with the
horse. I didn't like the few attempts to give the horse's view
with unfocused frames, but fortunately that technique was suppressed
and in its place came long sections without dialogue. The well-choreographed
and sensual dance scene is filmed without conversation and showcases
the soft, sad, longing lyrics of Moorer's song.
Criticizing this film for being too long is to suggest
it suffers scenes that are boring and in need of clipping, but
to have clipped some of the confrontational scenes between Booker
or the teenager with the horse would have ripped the heart out
of the story. This film is, after all, about whispering.
In one scene, Booker asks Annie,
"Don't you ever sit still?"
"If you sit still in New York," she replies, "you
get renovated."
In one sense, "The Horse Whisperers" intends to show
a side to life that should never be renovated, that space reserved
for calm -- often lonely -- and open reflection. "The Horse
Whisperer" stands as a tribute to quiet and patience and
solitude, a calm admonition in the frantic world of commerce and
calamity to "be still and know."