Adapted from Walter Farley's beloved novel, and exquisitely filmed by legendary cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, The Black Stallion is a lyrical, rhapsodic experience of breathtaking beauty.
The cast of The Black Stallion is superb and their portrayals are often astonishingly magical. The standout in the film is young Kelly Reno. Preternaturally, disturbingly adult, yet intensely vulnerable, his electric presence illuminates the screen. Tragically, his protracted recovery from an accident involving an 18-wheeler cut his career short, but as Alec, he is the stuff of cinema legend.
Young Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno), at sea with his father (Hoyt Axton) is fascinated by a wild black stallion aboard the steam ship Drake. The purported owner calls the horse Shetan (Devil), and keeps him heavily restrained. After a storm at sea and a subsequent fire aboard ship, which claims the life of his father, Alec is shipwrecked on an island of the coast of North Africa with the mysterious black Arabian stallion.
The scene on the island is one of my favorite in all of cinematic history. As Alec forages to find food on the uninhabited island, he sees the stallion caught in some rocks by the ropes still attached to it. He frees the horse, but it runs away. Alec then decides to try to mount the horse, and after several attempts, which play out like a hypnotic pas de deux of almost astounding beauty, he succeeds. The two of them are as one as the magnificent horse gallops along the shore, and their bond is complete. This scene, without so much as a word of dialog, is one of my favorite in all of cinema. Its astonishing beauty alone should have assured Deschanel at least an Oscar® nomination, but, alas, he was snubbed.
After some time, Alec and the horse are rescued by some Portuguese fishermen, and Alec returns home with the horse, which he keeps in his yard, with some difficulty. Upon one of the horse's escapes, he and Alec meet retired horse trainer Henry Daily, portrayed with delightful understatement by a masterful Mickey Rooney. At length, they determine to race the horse against thoroughbred champions.
Alec's mother (Teri Garr) objects, but, as we all know, the race must go on. This is good, because we get to see Alec and The Black run as one once again.
Carmine Coppola's haunting score plays perfectly with Deschanel's cinematography. The result is sublime. The Black Stallion does justice to the 1941 children's novel, and the masterful production offers something for audiences of all ages.
The cast of The Black Stallion is superb and their portrayals are often astonishingly magical. The standout in the film is young Kelly Reno. Preternaturally, disturbingly adult, yet intensely vulnerable, his electric presence illuminates the screen. Tragically, his protracted recovery from an accident involving an 18-wheeler cut his career short, but as Alec, he is the stuff of cinema legend.
Young Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno), at sea with his father (Hoyt Axton) is fascinated by a wild black stallion aboard the steam ship Drake. The purported owner calls the horse Shetan (Devil), and keeps him heavily restrained. After a storm at sea and a subsequent fire aboard ship, which claims the life of his father, Alec is shipwrecked on an island of the coast of North Africa with the mysterious black Arabian stallion.
The scene on the island is one of my favorite in all of cinematic history. As Alec forages to find food on the uninhabited island, he sees the stallion caught in some rocks by the ropes still attached to it. He frees the horse, but it runs away. Alec then decides to try to mount the horse, and after several attempts, which play out like a hypnotic pas de deux of almost astounding beauty, he succeeds. The two of them are as one as the magnificent horse gallops along the shore, and their bond is complete. This scene, without so much as a word of dialog, is one of my favorite in all of cinema. Its astonishing beauty alone should have assured Deschanel at least an Oscar® nomination, but, alas, he was snubbed.
After some time, Alec and the horse are rescued by some Portuguese fishermen, and Alec returns home with the horse, which he keeps in his yard, with some difficulty. Upon one of the horse's escapes, he and Alec meet retired horse trainer Henry Daily, portrayed with delightful understatement by a masterful Mickey Rooney. At length, they determine to race the horse against thoroughbred champions.
Alec's mother (Teri Garr) objects, but, as we all know, the race must go on. This is good, because we get to see Alec and The Black run as one once again.
Carmine Coppola's haunting score plays perfectly with Deschanel's cinematography. The result is sublime. The Black Stallion does justice to the 1941 children's novel, and the masterful production offers something for audiences of all ages.