Black Beauty
Ratings: 3.9/5
Duration: 1hr 49 mins
Language: English
Genre: Drama
Director: Ashley Avis
Writer: Ashley Avis, Anna Sewell
Based On: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Producer: Jeremy Bolt, Jon Brown, Genevieve Hofmeyr, Robert Kulzer, Martin Moszkowicz, Dylan Tarason, Lynne-Anne Vosloo, Edward Winters
Music: Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography: David Procter
Editing: Ashley Avis
Art Direction: Michael Hyman, Patrick O'Connor
Release Date: 27 November 2020
Released In: Disney+
Star Cast: Mackenzie Foy, Kate Winslet, Claire Forlani, Iain Glen, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Fern Deacon, Calam Lynch, Patrick Lyster, Matt Rippy, Deon Lotz, Max Raphael, David Dukas, Luke Tyler, Mark Elderkin, Alex Jeaven, Annica Liljeblad, Sascha Nastasi , Bjorn Steinbach, Hanni Heinrich, Darron Meyer, Grant Ross, Aubrey Shelton, Katja Hopkins, Avianah Abrahams
Plot:
Born free in the American West, Black Beauty is rounded up and brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets spirited teenager Jo Green. Black Beauty and Jo forge a bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges and adventures.
Review:
Anna Sewell’s classic 1877 novel ‘Black Beauty’ has been adapted for the big screen once again by Disney, this time with Kate Winslet voicing the iconic horse and Mackenzie Foy starring as the teenage girl she forms a deep connection with.
Set in the modern day, Black Beauty follows the titular horse as she is cruelly rounded up in the wild and separated from her family, before finding a home with horse whisperer John (Iain Glen) and his niece Jo.
Changing the setting from Victorian England to the modern-day American West, writer-director Ashley Avis’s decision to take Winslet as the voiceover seems a little redundant and adds unfortunately very little to the already non-existent drama in the film. However, not all is bad; Winslet’s voice solely does add thoughts and emotions through warmth and comfort, similar to what Kevin Costner did as Enzo the dog in ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ (2019) and Josh Gad did in ‘A Dog’s Purpose’ (2017) and ‘A Dog’s Journey’ (2019).
“A wise horse once told me that a mustang’s spirit can never be broken,” observes Winslet, as she proceeds to share her inner thoughts regarding the relationship between a wild horse and the girl she loved. Following a prologue during which the animal becomes separated from her herd, Beauty finds a saviour in sympathetic John Manly (Scottish actor Iain Glen), a horse whisperer over at the financially struggling Birtwick Stables.
Like Beauty, Foy’s Jo Green has endured tragedy, and as the wild horse and the heart-broken girl slowly bond, ‘Black Beauty’ transforms into a heart-warming tale of the power of love. Avis’ script has turned the classic into a modernized tale. Tragedy follows Jo and Beauty, and they are repeatedly separated. The final act is covered by a series of half-stories and some monotonous long repeated conclusions till the end of this classic story.
There is a beautiful messaging urging us to be the best we can be and to treat our fellow humans and our animal companions as we did like to be treated. Writer-director Avis even includes a lovely reference to the ‘Black Beauty’ author’s dependence on horses and horse-drawn carriages to help her get about, as well as Sewell’s ground-breaking advocacy for animal rights.
