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When compared to the military conflicts of the past ages, World War I demonstrated an unprecedented prevalence of technology. Bolt-action rifles and machineguns, tanks and heavy artillery, zeppelins, and airplanes were only some of the technological advancements that led to the emergence of the new type of total war. In this new war, combat was not so much a contest of the physical prowess of soldiers and animals but, rather, a technological competition with machinery dominating the battlefield completely.
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse, released in 2011, explores this period of history and presents a vivid artistic interpretation of animals with machines in warfare. In the film’s pivotal scene depicting the charge of British cavalry in 1914, lighting, motion, and framing alike highlight the grim triumph of technology over nature.
Befitting its title, War Horse follows the life and adventures of the steed named Joey during the early 20th century. Sold from a Devon farm to military service, Joey becomes a cavalry horse for Captain Nicholls. As World War I begins, Joey’s and Nicholls’s regiment is shipped across the Channel to fight in France as a part of the British Expeditionary Force. Joey’s first battle experience comes when the unit the horse is assigned to leads a valiant cavalry charge against the German position in the first weeks of the war.
Although initially successful, the attack stops at its tracks in a matter of minutes, as the charging riders come after the heavy machinegun fire. The scene is a relatively accurate depiction of the actual episode of the battle of Mons on 24 August 1914. In this event, 9th Lancers and 4th Dragoons attempted to attack German troops but “came under fire as the German infantry reacted, and the charge was brought to an ignominious halt” (Lomas). Thus, the movie sets the scene firmly within a historical context to emphasize the juxtaposition of nature and technology in its pivotal scene.
One of the ways the film uses to stress the distinction between the beasts of war and military machinery is lighting. British cavalry begins its charge on sunny noon with scarcely a cloud in the sky, and the riders and horses alike bathe in sunlight. Moreover, as Parker-Starbuck soundly notes, soldiers mount their horses in the middle of a field “full of high reeds, golden and rustling in the wind,” which makes the charge scene even brighter (Parker-Starbuck 378).
In contrast, the German machinegun positions are situated on the edge of the forest, conveniently hidden in the shadow of the trees. Thus, the lighting emphasizes a sharp contrast between the cavalry riding forward under the sun rays and machineguns covered in the darkness beneath the dense tree branches.
Another device utilized by the field to juxtapose animals and technology is how the scene utilizes motion or lack thereof. The British cavalry rides with a stampede of hooves, swiftly covering most of the distance to the enemy. Horse and human bodies move en masse, creating a sense of power and impetus among the viewers – Parker-Starbuck is right to call the scene “electrifying” (379). Machineguns, on the other hand, are completely still, and once the German soldiers assume their position behind them, they seize moving as well, waiting for their opening. The film contrasts the vigorous charge of the galloping cavalry and the motionless stillness of the killing machinery.
Finally, the framing of the scene once serves to stress the contrast between technology and nature put against each other on the battlefield. Once the Germans open fire, the camera cuts to a close-up of the firing guns. The shot is framed so that the audience does not see a single human being: only the machinegun muzzles and the occasionally bewildered horses without riders that manage to reach the firing positions. This framing of the scene deliberately excludes humans from the picture: it depicts combat as machine vs. animal, and the animal loses decisively. By doing so, the film offers an artistic depiction of “a transitional period when the animal body was being replaced by machinic technologies” (Parker-Starbuck 379). All the strength, speed, and vigor of a beast of war mean nothing when put against the modern machinery of war.
As one can see, War Horse uses its depiction of World War I to juxtapose technology and nature in a military context. Having set its pivotal scene firmly in a historical context, the film uses nearly all facets of its pivotal scene to emphasize the contrast between the charging British cavalry and German firing positions. While the horsemen ride forth bathing in light, German machineguns are utterly still and hidden in the shadow of the forest edge.
Finally, by excluding the human element from the scene, the movie puts machinery against animals directly and demonstrates the grizzly outcome, thus signifying the transitional period in history. War Horse demonstrates how metal and powder replace muscle and sinew as the decisive force on the battlefield, signaling a grim triumph of technology over nature that manifests in the mass destruction of total war.
Works Cited
Lomas, David. Mons 1914: The BEF’s Tactical Triumph. Osprey Publishing, 1997. Google Books. Web.
Parker-Starbuck, Jennifer. “Animal Ontologies and Media Representations: Robotics, Puppets, and the Real of ‘War Horse’.” Theatre Journal, vol. 65, no. 3, 2013, pp. 373-393.
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