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FROM THE HEART So strong is the bond between boy and his horse during Carroll Ballard’s The Black Stallion we find it difficult to overcome our feelings of welling up. Probably able to fight our surges when the boy entices the horse with seaweed on the desert island, but when he hugs the horse, we’re done in. Friends tell me all they do whenever the movie shows up for the umpteenth time on the box is sob happy while the magnificent stallion is racing to the finish line. We’re crying because it’s culmination—the peak of the horse’s natural instincts and affectional response having somehow magically measured the needs of the moment. (We felt this very strongly while watching American Pharoah gallop to become a Triple Crown victor in the 2015 Belmont Stakes, cheering and crying as we watch the majestic ham respond in kind to the overwhelming thunderous love from the crowd and his jockey’s touch and voice.) Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography on the island of Sardinia is dreamy and enchanting, especially as the boy and horse look like they could be doing a two-step in the water, and during the race overwhelming our senses. Mickey Rooney restrained and effective; Teri Garr not her usually intolerable self; and Kelly Reno is just right as the boy. This movie ranks right up there with National Velvet as great “family values” entertainment, yes, but it’s a disservice to both if that’s all they’re regarded as. They’re two classics from the heart. Winner of the 1979 National Society of Film Critics & L.A. Critics Association awards for best cinematography. Text COPYRIGHT © 2005 RALPH BENNER Revised 6/2015 All Rights Reserved.
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why they see it when ever on cable