Voleurs de chevaux (2007)
Directed by Micha Wald

Film Review

Despite having to work on a ludicrously tight budget, first-time director Micha Wald manages to deliver a quality historical drama that is true-to-life and epic in scope. The influence of Akira Kurosawa's Samurai films can be felt both in the film's subject (a classic tale of honour and revenge) and its moody composition, the forbidding landscape reflecting the powerful forces of the human soul that propel the narrative.  If Wald had had a substantially greater budget, the film would undoubtedly have looked grander and may have found a wider audience, but it probably wouldn't have had any greater emotional impact. What makes the film so arresting is the stark reality that is captured by its austere visual design and the conviction with which the four lead actors play their roles.   Micha Wald's mise-en-scène is refreshingly restrained, so that his actors can make the most of his understated screenplay, enacting a poignant drama of love and hate against the darkly oppressive beauty of Jean-Paul de Zaetijd's cinematography.

Having previously distinguished himself in his father's Zim and Co. (2005), Adrien Jolivet reminds us that he is an actor of exceptional ability through his compelling portrayal of a wild young Cossack consumed by vengeance.  His co-star, Grégoire Colin, brings a brooding, feral quality to his role which emphasises the humane sensitivity revealed by François-René Dupont and Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet.  The only relief from the extreme brutality of the world that Wald plunges us into comes from the fleeting moments of compassion and tenderness.  The one let down is some painfully trite dialogue, which would be better placed in some tacky urban soap opera than a serious historical drama.  However, this slip is easily forgiven given the strength of the film in other departments (particularly the acting). Voleurs de chevaux is a beguilingly poetic film that offers a moving study in brotherly love and revenge, a worthy homage to Kurosawa.

Film Synopsis

Ukraine, 1810.  Two young Cossack brothers, Jakub and Vladimir, join the Russian army hoping to find relief from the misery of their existences.  Their military training proves to be an arduous ordeal and both brothers are subjected to degrading treatment from their fellow cavalrymen.  Whilst they are bathing in a river, two horse thieves, Roman and Elias, steal their horses.  When he attempts to recover his horse, Vladimir is attacked by Roman and has his neck broken in the ensuing struggle.  Devastated by the death of his brother, Jakub resolves to hunt down his killer and inflict a well-deserved revenge...