THE ART OF  ADAPTATION

War Horse

Point of View
There's a susceptible sensibility that is eminent in Steven Spielberg's films and ultimately reveals itself spectacularly through the lens of the camera, performances of the actors, tempo and pace of the editor, music score by the composer and the creative team that brings his extraordinary vision to life.  War Horse is no exception, in fact, it not only celebrates Spielberg's illustrious career as a filmmaker and producer and humanitarian, but is an absolute consummation of the themes and issues that have dominated his work for four decades:  it encapsulates the wonder and awe of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T: The Extra Terrestrial; the brutal hostility of war in Saving Private Ryan, Band of Soldiers and The Pacific; the conflicts and contradictions of coming of age in Empire of the Sun and A.I: Artificial Intelligence;  nature versus human nature in Jaws;  the spectacle and adventure of the 'Indy' saga;  and abuse and emancipation of the human soul in The Color Purple and Schindler's List.  Spielberg has embraced a variety of universal issues and genres that are filtered through his unique artistic perception and incomparable interpretation.  With War Horse, Spielberg's command as a director working with actors and his creative teams, and his genius as a filmmaker are clearly evident.  His understanding of the subject matter, personal observations, and passion as an artist result in a unique and visceral experience.  It is a touching and tearful emotional journey that pays homage to a great story. The unrivalled symbiotic bond between animals and humans (if it was not for the scene-stealing goose I would have said horses), has never been captured with such discerning enthusiasm that will leave you emotionally drained. There are moments of anguish and torment that is very difficult to watch, but under Spielberg's skilful direction, these moments are lightened to underscore the violence. There are also moments of sadness that will break your heart, and moments of absolute delight that will allow you to share it tearfully with the characters.  The spectacle, scale and splendor of War Horse is overwhelming, perfectly balanced by intimate, humorous moments. Spielberg's casting is exceptional, particularly his discovery of Jeremy Irvine, who truly embodies a spirited and hopeful young man whose bond with his horse Joey results in magical and authentic eagerness.  War Horse is a must see experience that you will definitely revisit and always remember. Reviewed by Daniel Dercksen.  Rating 5/5

The Story
The journey begins on the cusp of WWI, as an English farming family buys a fiery hunter colt at auction despite not having the funds to pay for him. Named Joey, the horse seems to be nothing but a loss for struggling Ted and Rosie Narracott (Peter Mullan and Emily Watson), but their son Albert (newcomer Jeremy Irvine) is determined to tame and train him, making the most of Joey's enthralling spirit, speed and affection. The two are inseparable, but when war breaks out, they are pulled apart as Joey is sold from under him and heads to the front as the mount of a dashing British cavalry officer.   

"I thought the story was absolutely fascinating, and I was transported. In my mind it was a very honest story. I saw it as a movie for families--the journey of a boy and a horse who were once so close and whose destinies drive them apart. I hope this story will bring people together through this shared experience; its heart can be felt in every country." Steven Spielberg

The writers
LEE HALL (Screenwriter) was born in Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1966. He studied English Literature at Cambridge University and has worked as a writer in theater, TV, radio and film. He has also been a writer in residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company and at Live Theatre, Newcastle Upon Tyne. Hall wrote the screenplay for Billy Elliot. His theater credits include The Pitmen Painters at Live Theatre/Royal National Theatre in 2007, 2008 and 2009, on Broadway in 2010 and in the West End in 2011 (winner of Evening Standard Best Play Award, TMA Best New Play Award); "Billy Elliot the Musical" in London in 2004, in Australia in 2006-7, on Broadway since 2008, in Chicago in 2010 (winner of Olivier Award for Best Musical and nine Tony Awards, including Best Book); and Cooking With Elvis at Live Theatre/West End (nominated for an Olivier Award, Best Comedy). Theater adaptations include The Barber of Seville, at the Bristol Old Vic in 2003; The Good Hope, Royal National Theatre in 2001; Mother Courage, Shared Experience/ Ambassadors Theatre; The Adventures of Pinocchio, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in 2000; A Servant to Two Masters, RSC/Young Vic in 1999; Mr. Puntila and His Man Matti, Almedia Theatre; and Leonce and Lena, The Gate Theatre in 1997. Hall has also worked extensively in radio. His credits include I Luv You Jimmy Spud in 1996, which won the Writers Guild Award for Best New Play, the Gold Sony Award for Best New Play, the Alfred Bradley Award and the Society of Authors Award; Spoonface Steinberg in 1997; I Love You, Ragie Patel in 1997; The Sorrows of Sandra Saint in 1997; Blood Sugar in 1997; Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter (adapted from Vargas Llosa) in 1998; Gristle in 1999; Child of the Snow in 2000; and Child of the Rain in 2000. Hall's TV credits include Toast in 2010, Wind in the Willows in 2007, A Prince of Hearts in 1998 and Spoonface Steinberg for the BBC in 1997. He has also worked in opera, adapting Il Pagliacci for the English National Opera in 2008.

RICHARD CURTIS (Screenwriter) has written extensively for both film and television. His film credits include The Boat That Rocked; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary, which won the British Screenwriter of the Year Award at the London Critics Circle Film Awards in 2002;  and Notting Hill, which won Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy Awards, Best Foreign Film at The César Awards, Best Original Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards, Best Foreign Film at the AFI, British Screenwriter of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and Best Screenplay Award from the Writers' Guild of Britain. Curtis' TV credits include The Girl in the Café, which won the Humanitas Prize in the 90-minute category and Emmy Awards for Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Writing for a Movie in 2006; The Tall Guy; The Vicar of Dibley, which won the International Emmy Award in 1998 and was nominated for Best Comedy Program at the BAFTAs in 1998 and 1999, won Most Popular Comedy Program at the National Television Awards in 1998, Blackadder Back and Forth; Bernard and the Genie; and Mr. Bean. Curtis resides in London.

MICHAEL MORPURGO (Novelist, "War Horse") is one of the U.K.'s best-loved authors and storytellers. He was appointed Children's Laureate in May 2003, a post he helped to set up with his friend Ted Hughes in 1999. He was awarded an OBE for services to Literature in the Queen's Birthday Honors in 2007. He has written over 130 books, including Kensuke's Kingdom, which won the Children's Book Award 2000 and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Carnegie Medal in 2000. His novel, Private Peaceful, a harrowing story about the First World War, was published in autumn 2003. It won the 2004 Red House Children's Book Award and the Blue Peter Book Award in 2005. His novel Shadow about a boy from Afghanistan and the dog he befriends, won the 2010 Red House Children's Book Award, voted for by children. His latest novel is Little Manfred, published in May 2011. Many of Morpurgo's books have been adapted for the stage. These include Private Peaceful, Kensuke's Kingdom, Why the Whales Came, The Mozart Question and, most notably, the National Theatre's production of War Horse. This production of Morpugo's moving and powerful story of survival on the Western Front, which reached number one in the Observer's top ten theater performances, was also awarded the best design prize in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. This production has now moved to the West End's New London Theatre. Produced on Broadway, War Horse won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play. Morpurgo travels all over the U.K. and abroad, talking to children and adults, telling his stories and encouraging them to tell theirs. In 1976 Morpurgo and his wife, Clare, started the charity Farms for City Children. They help to run three farms around the country, in Gloucestershire, Pembrokeshire and North Devon. Each farm offers children and teachers from urban primary schools the chance to live and work in the countryside for a week and gain hands-on experience. Morpurgo lives in Devon with his wife, Clare. He has three children and seven grandchildren.  Read interview

The director
STEVEN SPIELBERG (Director/Producer), one of the industry's most successful and influential filmmakers, is a principal partner of DreamWorks Studios. In 2009 he and partner Stacey Snider joined with The Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group to form the new DreamWorks. This new entity is a continuation of DreamWorks Studios, which was founded in 1994 by Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.  Spielberg is also, collectively, the top-grossing director of all time, having helmed such blockbusters asJaws,E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones franchise and Jurassic Park. Among his myriad honors he is a three-time Academy Award winner. Spielberg took home his first two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the internationally lauded Schindler's List, which received a total of seven Oscars in addition to winning seven BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, both including Best Picture and Director. Spielberg also won the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award for his work on the film. Spielberg won his third Academy Award for Best Director for the World War II drama Saving Private Ryan, which was the highest-grossing release (domestically) of 1998. It was also one of the year's most honored films, earning four additional Oscars as well as two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Picture (Drama) and Best Director, and numerous critics-groups awards in the same categories. Spielberg also won another DGA Award and shared a Producers Guild of America (PGA) Award with the film's other producers. That same year, the PGA also presented Spielberg with the prestigious Milestone Award for his historic contribution to the motion-picture industry. He has also earned Academy Award nominations for Best Director for Munich, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Additionally he earned DGA Award nominations for those films, as well as "Jaws," "The Color Purple," "Empire of the Sun" and "Amistad." With ten to date, Spielberg has been honored by his peers with more DGA Award nominations than any other director. In 2000 he received the DGA's Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also the recipient of the Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press' Cecil B. DeMille Award, the Kennedy Center Honors, and numerous other career tributes.
More recently Spielberg directed the 3D animated film The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, based on the iconic character created by Georges Herge Remi; the worldwide hit Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth Indy film. He is a producer of this summer's success, Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams.  His feature film Lincoln will be released by DreamWorks Studios in the fall of 2012.
Spielberg's career began with the 1968 short film Amblin, which led to him becoming the youngest director ever signed to a long-term studio deal. He first gained attention for his 1971 telefilm, Duel. Three years later he made his feature-film directorial debut on The Sugarland Express from a screenplay he co-wrote. His next film was Jaws, which was the first film to break the $100 million mark.
In 1984 Spielberg formed his own production company, Amblin Entertainment.  Under the Amblin banner, he served as producer or executive producer on such hits as Gremlins, Goonies, Back to the Future (I, II and III), Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, An American Tail, Twister, The Mask of Zorro and the Men in Black films. Amblin also produced the hit series ER with Warner Bros. Television.
In 1994 Spielberg partnered with Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to form the original DreamWorks Studios. The studio enjoyed both critical and commercial successes, including three consecutive Best Picture Academy Award winners: American Beauty, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind. In its history DreamWorks has also produced or co-produced a wide range of features, including the Transformers blockbusters; Clint Eastwood's World War II dramas Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, the latter earning a Best Picture Oscar nomination; Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers; and The Ring, to name only a few. Under the DreamWorks banner Spielberg also directed such films as War of the Worlds, Minority Report, Catch Me if You Can and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Spielberg has not limited his success to the big screen. He was an executive producer on the long-running Emmy-winning TV drama ER, produced by his Amblin Entertainment company and Warner Bros. Television for NBC. On the heels of their experience on Saving Private Ryan, he and Tom Hanks teamed to executive-produce the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, based on Stephen Ambrose's book about a U.S. Army unit in Europe in World War II. Among its many awards, the project won both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for Outstanding Miniseries. He and Hanks more recently reunited to executive produce the acclaimed 2010 HBO miniseries The Pacific, this time focusing on the Marines in World War II's Pacific theater. The Pacific won eight Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Miniseries.
Spielberg also executive-produced the Emmy-winning Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Taken and the TNT miniseries Into the West. He was an executive producer on the Showtime series United States of Tara and is an executive producer on TNT's Falling Skies and Terra Nova on Fox TV as well as an executive producer on Smash, which will debut on NBC early in 2012.
Apart from his filmmaking work, Spielberg has also devoted his time and resources to many philanthropic causes. The impact of his work on Schindler's List led him to establish the Righteous Persons Foundation, using all his profits from the film. He also founded Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, which in 2005 became the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. In addition Spielberg is the Chairman Emeritus of the Starlight Children's Foundation.

World War I Facts
Known as the Great War, WWI was fought between July 1914 and November 1918 as the delicate balance of power between European empires fell apart.
The Allies (Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Italy, Japan, Greece) fought the Central Powers (Germany, Austrio-Hungary, The Ottoman Empire).  The U.S. entered the war in 1917 on the Allies' side.
It was the first war in history to be fought on three continents.
It was the first war to use automatic artillery, mustard gas and mechanized tanks.
9.7 million soldiers and 6.7 million civilians were killed worldwide in four years of war.
More than 200,000 men perished in the trenches of the Western Front.
The war introduced unprecedented use of animals in warfare, including millions of horses and hundreds of thousands of dogs.
It was the last war to feature major cavalry charges, but with the arrival of automatic artillery and trench warfare, the use of cavalry became rare, and horses were used more as "beasts of burden" in rough terrain.
WWI was later called "the war to end all wars" because it seemed impossible that such a devastating event would ever be repeated.
When war was declared in Britain in August of 1914, most of the populace believed it would last a few weeks or months at most and all the men would be home by Christmas.
Most soldiers who fought in the war were between ages 17 and 40, although many lied about their ages to join up.
The Western Front of the war was a line of trenches that crossed Europe, from the Belgian coast to the Swiss border, passing through much of France, where infamous battles were fought at Ypres, Verdun and the Somme.
After an armistice was signed in 1918, troops began to withdraw from the Western Front.  Surviving soldiers and horses, like Albert and Joey, headed back to their villages and to a world changed forever, carrying the hope for a lasting peace.

The Legacy of WWI Horses
Throughout human history, animals have accompanied soldiers into battle, their natural, wild instincts recruited to serve human aims. Read more

A Horse's Odyssey Home How do you unfold a world-wandering tale of love, war, fortitude and hope when your main character is an innocent village colt in search of kindness, friendship and a way home?  That challenge instantly compelled Steven Spielberg when he encountered Michael Morpurgo's novel "War Horse." To do the story justice would be a creative and technical feat, one that hooked into Spielberg's penchant for chronicling the human condition. Read more

Discovering the Cast When it came to the casting, Spielberg was motivated entirely by character. He scoured Britain for actors he felt could seamlessly enter the film's roles, regardless of whether they were known or unknown.   Read more

The Equine Cast & trainers
If the human cast of "War Horse" was vital, the film's cast of equines was even more so, for it was they who had to bridge the species gap to take audiences into a perspective unlike any other.  Read more

The Cavalry Charge Some of the most intensive work with the horses came in Joey's first encounter with human warfare as he takes part in one of the last classic cavalry charges against German forces. Read more

Visual Character In "War Horse" there are equine characters and human characters, but a third type of character is equally important: the landscapes. Read more

CostumesHistorical research and rich character details also merged in the work of costume designer Joanna Johnston, another long-time Spielberg collaborator. Read more

Sound and Fury: The Score and Sound Design One of Spielberg's longest-running cinematic collaborations has been with five-time Oscar-winning composer John Williams, whose lush, emotive scores are among the most recognized of all time.   Adding more aural details is the work of sound designer Gary Rydstrom, who makes every hoof beat, every rifle crack and every whinny a part of the all-enveloping experience of the film. Read more

The Journey Begins
Fom director Steven Spielberg comes an emotional epic on a classic scale. It is the story of a miraculous horse in wartime--a stirring journey that explores a bond of friendship, loyalty and courage. Within the tale of a boy and the feisty colt he never stops believing in, there are sweeping battles, desperate escapes and an evocative odyssey through a world at war. But no matter where they go or what they experience both boy and horse keep forging ahead, driven by devotion and the hope of returning home.
Adapted from one of the great modern stories of friendship and war, the film is drawn from the novel that sparked a rousing stage hit, garnering five Tony Awards®, including Best Play. Now, Spielberg unfolds this heartwarming tale for all ages with a return to the territory where big screen cinema and intimate storytelling meet. 
Says Spielberg: "To me, 'War Horse' is a timeless story about the sacrifices of love--about the sacrifices a boy makes in a time of war to find his horse and the sacrifices the horse makes just trying to survive this dark episode in history. Throughout it all, their destinies are entwined."
To do justice to the story's broad scope, Spielberg assembled a distinctive mix for the cast, delighting in bringing several newcomers to the fore, including Jeremy Irvine as Albert, Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Kross, Patrick Kennedy, Toby Kebbell, Celine Buckens and Robert Emms, along with a host of award-winning veterans including Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup and David Thewlis.
Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, the screenplay is by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. The film is produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, and the executive producers are Frank Marshall and Revel Guest. Spielberg's close-knit artistic crew, most of whom he has worked with through several decades, includes editor Michael Kahn, director of photography Janusz Kaminski, composer John Williams, production designer Rick Carter and costume designer Joanna Johnston. 
Joining them on "War Horse" was an extraordinary team of horse trainers and riders, all overseen by American Humane Society representative Barbara Carr, as they forged safe, respectful but unprecedented drama and action with equine actors as expressive as their human counterparts. Says Carr: "Everything was done in the safest, kindest ways for the animals. You could see in Steven that he truly cared deeply about the animals, and that was reflected in the entire production."

From Page to Screen
From modest beginnings "War Horse" has become a part of contemporary culture, a story from a century past that speaks to that which matters to the world right now. It first became a well-loved family book, then an innovative stage play that took audiences by storm and now it sees another incarnation in its most visceral medium yet. 
It all started with novelist and children's author Michael Morpurgo, who always wanted to write a tale set against the Great War. World War I is perhaps the least talked-about conflict of the 20^th century, leaving in its wake a world forever changed and a generation tasked to rebuild from ashes. For a long time Morpurgo had looked for an original way to write about the war.  But it wasn't until he met an aged veteran in a bar that he found his way in--inspiration sparked when he heard the man talk with passion not about his fellow soldiers but about the incredibly heroic horses with whom he served. 
Like most people, Morpurgo had never given much thought to horses in wartime, but this old soldier opened his eyes to a vast, unexplored world:  the bonds between humans and animals that even battle could not tear asunder, and that kept so many going when they might have given up. "Here I was listening to this old man who had tears in his eyes talking about a relationship he had with a horse on the Western Front decades ago," the novelist recalls.

"I learned that these horses were doing so much more than simply carrying soldiers or gun carriages. They deeply mattered to people."  That initial conversation led Morpurgo into his own personal hunt for research, in which he discovered that a remarkable 1 million horses valiantly went into battle with the British during WWI and only 62,000 animals returned.  He learned how vital horses were on all sides of the war, giving soldiers from every country an invisible but common thread. He explored poignant paintings and read historical accounts of how horses sacrificed, suffered and committed acts of bravery--just like their human companions.  Through it all, he felt this was a story that needed to be told. 
Published in 1982 as a story for young adults, the book was quickly embraced by readers around the world and was a runner-up for the prestigious Whitbread Award.
In 2007, when the novel was adapted into a mesmerizing stage play at London's National Theatre, audiences went mad for it and for its themes of human-animal friendship, the power of endurance and the way hope for the future stays with us when all appears lost.
The play also spoke to producer Kathleen Kennedy, who upon seeing it, fell in love with Joey and his unwavering determination to find his way home. "I couldn't get the story and the emotions it evoked out of my head," she recalls. 
She instantly thought of Spielberg. She knew he had all the creative resources to find the way to bring this astonishing story to moviegoers in a universal and contemporary way. "Steven wasn't interested in making a war movie," explains Kennedy. "Rather, what he loved about 'War Horse' was the relationship between the boy and this horse and their journey. Everybody can identify with Joey's primal emotions and, as a result, cannot help but care deeply for what happens to him, and by following Joey's experience, Steven could show the goodness to be found in people fighting on either side in the war." 
Even before production started, Kennedy anticipated that the power of Spielberg's approach would be his ability to key into the ordinary relationships that allow people to do extraordinary things.
When Spielberg took on the project, Morpurgo could hardly believe it.  He was thrilled with the direction, which was as unique to the screen as the theater version was to its form. "There was an incredible meeting of minds with Steven. We're both storytellers who are fascinated by how stories can expand and grow. Steven told the story in his own way, with more depth and breadth," says the author.   
London-based executive producer Revel Guest, who had endeavored to make a film of "War Horse" since its theatrical opening, was also exhilarated by the match-up.  "There is no one I can think of that we would prefer to have direct this film than Steven Spielberg," she says, "He is a lover of horses and also the best war director of our times, so the two combined is exactly right." 
The filmmakers next turned their attention to adapting the novel. First they brought in British screenwriter Lee Hall, who wrote the triumphant "Billy Elliot," and then, to add more layers, they brought in another Brit, Richard Curtis, whose films include "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill" as well as the TV series "Blackadder," a comedy set in the trenches of World War I.
Curtis notes that the story has a strong connection to the world right now. "With the financial recession, and the threat of terrorism, that question of how individuals survive in a big dangerous world is something that we are all more aware of right now," he notes. 
But to bring those links out, he had to find answers to two complicated questions: How could Joey be the very center of the story even though he has no voice; and how could the narrative stay with Joey's quest for reunion and not get mired in the muck and chaos of the war? "The war had to be a presence which you always know is there, a threat, but not the central subject," says Curtis. "The challenge was achieving a balance--not diminishing the horror of the war but not eclipsing what is a very moving story about people bound together by a horse."
As he discussed the nuances of the screenplay with Spielberg, Curtis also was put in mind of another subtle influence. "I think somewhere in Steven's mind was the cinematic tradition of the Western. You start out in a lovely homestead where they're pulling the water and there's a friendly goose, and then suddenly there's the foreboding sense that something bad is coming just over the horizon," he observes.
When the darkness of war arrives in Devon, the resulting chaos cleaves Albert and Joey apart, but Spielberg and Curtis discussed coming up with a narrative device to tie the two friends together even as they each go off on disparate adventures. This became the pennant Albert ties to Joey's reins the day he leaves his side. 
For Spielberg, that simple object became a visual through-line. "I wanted to find a way to tie up all of the film's stories with one thing that becomes a kind of unifying force and that is the father's war pennant," he says. "Joey takes with him this memento of their relationship and it goes from story to story until the very end. It was very important to me that there be that kind of visual talisman. The campaign pennant connects Joey not only to all these other stories but it also connects the boy to his father and home."   
Adds Curtis: "Steven is very skilled at weaving visual markers through a far-ranging story, and the pennant is very important because Albert's father brought it back from his time at war--and now it becomes the one constant all the way through the film until it finally is returned back to where it came from. Our hope was that it would be a little, beautiful, shining thread through all that they go through."  No matter what tweaks of plot they made, the writers always kept Joey at the heart of things.  "He represents all of our innocence thrown into an unbelievable cataclysm," sums up Hall. "In his perspective all the complexities are stripped back to the simple, and it becomes a very human story."        THE ART OF ADAPTATION                                     HOME