War Horse Movie Review

War Horse Resiliency
Introductory Statement
This paper provides a critique of the 2012 film War Horse directed by Steven Spielberg. The film takes place during the World War I era and follows the life of a horse named Joey. The film presents various depictions of what it means to be resilient. This paper will provide a summary of the film, examine the key concepts found in the film’s story line, and discuss resiliency and the Biblical solution to adversity from the film’s perspective.
Summary
The film begins with the birth of the horse, whom Albert admires over time. The colt is ultimately auctioned and bought by Albert’s father at a price more than three times its actual value. Albert’s father Ted is willing to pay the price because he knows the horse will bring his son happiness. Albert is indeed made happy by the horse and trains it to do many things—even to plow the fields though it is not a plow horse. However, adversity strikes, and the horse has to be sold. Although Albert is the main human character of the film, Joey is really the star and his journey now diverges from Albert’s for a time.
Joey goes on to serve in the purposes of the British military in World War I. Albert tries to enlist to stay with the horse, but he is too young. Later, once Albert has grown, he and Joey are reunited—but much adversity will have passed: Albert loses a friend in the war and himself is temporarily blinded in the trenches. Joey, too, falls into various hands, from the British military to the German side, to a provincial French family—a father and daughter who briefly befriend the horse. In the end, Joey is reunited with Albert by way of Colin who saves the horse from barbed wire during a conflict between the British and the Germans. Albert hears of the horse and whistles his old call to Joey, who is about to be put down. Joey starts and moves to Albert. It is a scene that feels miraculous because of the odds against their ever being reunited. Yet, the fact that they are together again shows that miracles do happen and that faith, therefore, is a beautiful thing to hold onto.
However, the adversity is not over yet. The military aims to sell Joey, and just as at the beginning of the film it is all a matter of who has the money to buy him. Albert hopes to purchase the horse with a collection taken up by the soldiers—but he is outbid by the Frenchman who wants to buy Joey in order to remember his daughter who loved the horse. Joey, however, wants to stay with Albert and the Frenchman realizes that Albert is the one who really should have the horse. He gives the pendant that belonged to Ted (which Albert had pinned to Joey when the horse was first sold to the military and which the Frenchman took). Albert then takes the pendant back to his own father, and father and son have a bonding moment as the two now have their war experiences behind them and mutual feelings of respect all around.
Key Concepts
Resiliency
Resiliency is the ability to bounce back from adversity and overcome obstacles. Inherent in the concept of resiliency is the idea of internal toughness and strength—the ability to withstand physical, emotional and spiritual punishment and to rise above these challenges towards victory. The film shows that in order to live, one must be resilient and must find a way to overcome adversity. There are numerous examples of resiliency in the film but Joey represents resiliency more than anything else in the film. Joey has a kind of stoic essence—a determination to succeed that makes the horse so remarkable. For that reason, the film takes its title from Joey’s role as a war horse—because life is full of so much suffering that one must be like Joey if one wants to make it through.
Suffering
Suffering is also a major concept explored in the film. Ted, Albert’s father, suffers from some war trauma. It is unidentified, but he relies on drink to make decisions, and he is a bit unstable. He doesn’t like to talk about the war and his wife preserves his medals and pendants, which she gives to Albert. In the end, after Albert has also suffered from his experiences in the war, father and son finally come together as equals, understanding suffering on an even plane. Joey also endures suffering as a war horse, being taken from one front to another and almost put down for a lame leg. The point that the film makes, however, is that suffering does indeed make one stronger so long as one is able to endure it and see the light shining at the other end of the tunnel of pain.
Trauma
Trauma occurs when an experience is so shocking that it disturbs the individual’s psychology. The individual is unable to process the experience in a positive way and ends up trying to cope by isolating himself from others or engaging in self-medication. Ted engages in self-medication by drinking and refusing to talk about the traumatic experiences he suffered in the war. Trauma hangs over the life of Joey, as the horse moves from hand to hand. All the characters who interact with Joey face, in some way, their own trauma.
Loyalty
Loyalty is a major theme throughout the film. Ted is loyal to his son: he knows the horse means something to his boy and that is why he buys it for the outlandish sum of 30 guineas. The son is loyal to his father and to the horse, and that is why he ties his father’s pendant to the horse’s collar when it is sold to the British military. Emilie’s father is loyal to his daughter’s memory, which is why he buys the horse at the auction later in the film. The horse is loyal to Albert, who trained it and loved it from its birth, which is why the horse still goes to Albert after all its struggles and adventures throughout the war. The two soldiers who free the horse from the barbed wire, though from opposing sides, are loyal to the idea of decency and the humane treatment of animals, which is why they set aside their differences to help free the animal. Loyalty is the principle that fosters resiliency: without it, there would be no firmness, no strength, no faith, no hope. Loyalty to an idea, to something higher, to the concept of love—this loyalty is what enables the characters and Joey, the horse, to carry on.
Resiliency / Biblical Solutions
During the second half of the film, when Colin leaves his trench to free Joey from the barb wire fence, he is holding a white flag—a symbol of truce—waving it before him as he goes to keep the Germans from shooting him. His aim is not war but peace: his goal is to help the horse. The Germans realize this and one comes to assist him with wire cutters. It is a moment when the two warring parties are able to set aside their differences and come to the aid of something beautiful and innocent. During his frightening walk to the horse (he has no way of knowing whether the Germans will actually respect the white flag), he prays, “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.” The prayer is a quotation of Psalm 23 from the Old Testament. It represents the soldier’s faith in God. This is also a source of resiliency: faith—a loyalty to God via belief that God is watching over all things and will help those who trust in Him—helps Colin to achieve his mission. Colin’s example presents the Biblical solution to the problem of adversity in life. Though God may send trials and tribulations to us, if we hold fast to our faith and trust in His design, we can feel confident in the belief that God will support us and see us through, even if we do not understand the course of events that follow (Craig, 2008). Resiliency in the spiritual life depends upon this notion—i.e., that there is a higher power watching over all things and leading all things to a good end. Trials and tribulations may befall individuals, but these are mere tests in the greater scheme of things, tests that allow us the opportunity to rise above and demonstrate our faith and loyalty to the Good and the Beautiful. Adversity, in other words, is an opportunity to give testimony to our belief in God and His innate goodness (Evans & Manis, 2009). By remembering that God has a design for all people, we can resist bitterness, despondency and despair.
Conclusion
Resiliency is about resolve, strength, determination, and the ability to endure. Joey symbolizes resiliency in the film by his ability to take everything that is thrown at him. He learns to plow even though he is not a plow horse. He pleases everyone who comes into contact with him. And his loyalty to Albert ends up saving his life because he responds to the call that Albert gives just as the gun is pointed at his head. Inherent in the idea of resiliency is the idea of faith. Faith inspires one to hope, to see through the gloom and suffering and find the light at the end of the tunnel. Even when it is darkest, one must have faith in order to be resilient—to believe that the pain will not last forever.

References
Craig, W. L. (2008). Reasonable faith; Christian truth and apologetics (3d ed.). Wheaton,
Il: Crossway Books. 
Evans, C. S., & Manis, R. Z. (2009). Philosophy of Religion (2nd ed.). Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press.
Spielberg, S. (2012). War Horse. LA: Dreamworks.