MOVIE OF THE MONTH: DECEMBER 2011

                                              
Director:  Steven Spielberg

Producer:Steven Spielberg

Camera:  Janusz Kamiński

Studio:   DreamWorks Pictures

Release: 25 December 2011

Running:146 minutes

War Horse, based on a popular young-adult novel that begat an award-winning theatrical production, is expected to have broad appeal. It tells the odyssey-like story of a farm animal named Joey who is sold to the war effort and starts in the British cavalry before passing through various hands on the battlefield, finding friends among foes, and witnessing firsthand the brutal and indiscriminate machinery of war.

The film directed by Steven Spielberg and is intended for release in the United States on 25 December 2011 and in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2012. It is based on both War Horse, a children's novel set during World War I, by British author Michael Morpurgo, first published in the United Kingdom in 1982, and the 2007 stage adaptation of the same name.

War Horse is based on a young-adult novel by Michael Morpurgo, published in 1982. It came to Spielberg's attention after his longtime producer, Kathleen Kennedy, saw a stage version of the story in London, performed by the Handspring Puppet Co. While Morpurgo's novel was narrated in the first person by Joey, the stage-show horses express themselves only through movement and become ciphers for the human characters Joey encounters — a doomed British officer who brings him to war, a regretful German officer seeking escape and a young French girl who cares for him after being wounded.

Morpurgo, who has written many novels using animals to explore adult themes, such as war, to make them accessible to young readers, also runs a farm that invites city children to visit and experience rural life. The play and, now, the movie have brought new life to his nearly 30-year-old book. There aren't many stars in War Horse, but Tom Hiddleston, seen as the god Loki in the Marvel Comics movie Thor, is one of them. He co-stars as Captain Nichols, who purchases Joey for the war and is bringing him out of town alongside this crew of new soldiers.

War Horse has been given a PG-13 rating, which means this drama likely won't thrust the audience as deeply into the gory maw of battle. Like Morpurgo's book, it aims to explore horror through innocence, a horse that doesn't understand, and the young men who find they don't either. It goes back to a theme of responsibility and fatherhood Spielberg has explored in many films. With War Horse, it's natural to assume it will be positioned as a potential award nominee. In the midst of shooting, however, Spielberg says he can't think about that.

Website: http://www.warhorsemovie.com