Interesteg What makes it different from others?
Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
rjyelverton "White Mane" follows Folco, a boy fisherman living in the marshes of . He spots a striking white stallion while working and tries to approach the horse. White Mane, a leader of a pack of wild horses, evades the boy, but the two will meet again. White Mane is also trying to elude ranch hands who are attempting to capture and break the wild horse. As the horse evades the men, he warms to Folco who desires a friend more than workhorse.The film's nature scenes are fantastic and the moments where White Mane fights for leadership of his clan are fascinating and brutal. Animals were clearly injured in the making of this film, but I do not get the impression that LaMorisse staged the fight for pack leader. The fight is brutal with the horses biting one another in an attempt to dominate. Its a nice corrective to the sanitized friendly horse image splashed across lunch box and Trapper Keeper."White Mane" is presented in black and white and the scenes of Folco and his family are reminiscent of the familial moments from Ray's Apu Trilogy, unadorned and quietly observant. Storytelling is handled by a narrator who maybe gives us false hope in the film's conclusion. I was reminded of "Pan's Labyrinth" which presented two possible fates for its child hero. "White Mane" does the same, but I could not shake the feeling that the narrator was lying to me. Given the film's seemingly solid placement in the mundane, its insistence on the fantastic in its conclusion strikes the viewer as false. Ironic? Not likely, but maybe LaMorisse is trying to let his child viewers down easily.
MartinHafer I knew that my summary would get your attention! I wrote this because unlike many people who have some sort of romantic attraction towards horses, after reading about Napoleon's troops living on horse meat during their retreat from Moscow I always wondered how horse meat tastes. Sorry, but when others watch THE BLACK STALLION or MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE, I'm wondering if there's something like a rib-eye steak or chuck roast hiding within the title character! Yet, because of perhaps some innate love of horses, many would be horrified to think of eating one or not loving a film about horses. It's in light of the differing ways people think of horses that would , perhaps, to some of the really divergent views on this film--as well as people ganging up on one reviewer who called it "a bit disappointing" and then receiving 26 of 27 scores as "not helpful". I've learned over the years that when it comes to horses, there are a lot of folks who adore them and you just can't argue with this connection.When I watched WHITE MANE, I once again thought of hamburgers and brisket because I just don't get excited about horses in films (unless they are being ridden by John Wayne or Errol Flynn into battle). So, the story of some French peasant child loving a horse that all the local herdsmen want to kill did little for me--particularly the ending (which seemed either a bit silly or just slapped on because they ran out of things to say).However, I also must it that despite feeling almost no connection with this story, I had to ire the absolutely lovely film work. It is one of the best filmed black and white films I have ever seen--almost like a beautiful piece of art come to life. This, combined with nice music made for a lovely looking film.Overall, if you love horses (and I DON'T mean in the EQUUS way), then by all means watch the film. You'll find the plot magical and the film will impress you no doubt. If, however, you are not a horse aficionado, then you still might want to watch it for its artistry but not its somewhat disappointing and rather schmaltzy story.
Neil Doyle Although this was an award-winning French film that won honors as Best Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, there's really nothing that memorable about this B&W odyssey about a wild stallion and a small boy who tames it.The background music is pleasant, the photography is pleasing enough and the boy is a natural actor, but the story seems to be lacking something in spirit and seems rather bland by the time it winds up its tale in 43 minutes with a rather ambiguous ending.ALAIN EMERY is the boy, Falco, who befriends a white stallion in Camarque, arid lands in the south of , much to the displeasure of a group of men who were trying to capture the animal themselves. Once the horse accepts him as a rider, he spends the rest of the film trying to avoid capture by the men on horseback who chase the boy and the horse all over the dunes and finally the beach, where boy and horse ride off into the waves.That's the story. Whether it captures your attention completely or not is debatable, but it is definitely well made and worth seeing at least once.Trivia note: The main page at IMDb specifies that the film was photographed in Eastman Color but the print shown on TCM was in black and white.
lionel-libson-1 In the mid-fifties, Albert Lamorisse produced two beautiful, but strangely distant films, "The RedBalloon" and "White Mane". "Red Balloon" has been available and remained somewhat popular, while "White Mane" all but disappeared. Its re-emergence is welcome, as it offers intensely compelling black and white imagery, cinematography that is a cross between Ansel Adams and Atget, in its rich tones, dramatic light, and epic feel.Red Balloon, offers an interesting contrast. Paris is all muted earth tones and grays, with the balloons offering the only vivid colors. It is also interesting to that World War II was less than a decade earlier.Little Pascal, the director's son, is seen in both films, always appealing never "cute", but somehow distant. We don't really know him except as "the little boy".The two films are wonderful artifacts from a time when film was more art than marketing.
