Films about horses make the hearts of horse fans beat faster. There are not only the classic “girl-horse films”, but also many dramas and westerns.
Films about horses: “Companions” as a touching war drama
“War Horse” is a 2012 war film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Lee Hall and Richard Curtis as well as Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson and Peter Mullan.
- The farm boy Albert (Jeremy Irvine) and his horse Joey are inseparable. But during World War I the two are separated. Joey is sold to the army and sent straight to the front.
- But Albert does not give up on his four-legged friend and sets off on an arduous journey to the front in France. His goal: to find his horse and save it.
“Hidalgo”: Western ride with Viggo Mortensen
In 2004, “Hidalgo” was released in cinemas. The western stars “Lord of the Rings” star Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif in the lead roles.
- In the American West in the 1890s, Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) and his horse Hidalgo travel through the country and are able to win races again and again. But Frank carries a trauma with him that keeps resurfacing.
- The film is based on the memoirs of the real Frank Hopkins. But not everything is true.
- In 2020, Viggo Mortensen announced in an interview that his film horse Hidalgo, a Paint Horse, died in the same year.
“Ostwind”: Longing for horses and feelings of freedom
“Ostwind” is the first film adaptation of the book series of the same name. The film, released in 2013, is about a fourteen-year-old girl, Mika, who has to spend the summer with her strict grandmother at the horse farm.
- There, Mika not only meets the nice stable boy Sam, but also the wild and shy stallion “Ostwind”.
- Although Mika knows nothing about horses, she quickly gains Ostwind's trust.
- There are a total of five “Ostwind” films (as of August 2024). The first part was followed by “Ostwind 2” (2015), “Ostwind – Departure to Ora” (2017), “Ostwind – Aris Arrival” (2019) and “Ostwind – The Great Hurricane” (2020).
“The Rider”: Visually powerful neo-western
“The Rider” is a neo-western from 2018. The cowboy Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) is a talented rodeo rider.
- After a serious accident, doctors say he will never be able to ride again. But as a direct descendant of the Lakota Sioux, he has a very special connection to horses.
- Without riding, he is no longer a man in his culture. And so he fights to be able to continue his life somehow – preferably with the horses at his side.