Suggested title: How has Robert Redford presented and adapted The Horse Whisperer for the cinema?

This guide has been written to help you study a feature film. It is specifically written for students in England and Wales, studying media for assessed work in English in Key Stage 4 of the National Curriculum (GCSE). It may be of interest to students of film generally.

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Starting your work

Give a brief outline/summary of the film - do not go into detail (less than a page will do).

• Explain that the film is adapted from the novel by Nicholas Evans, with some changes.
• Briefly write about Robert Redford as actor and director. As an actor his credits include Barefoot in the Park, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, The Great Gatsby and Indecent Proposal. As a director, he won the 1980 Academy Award (Oscar) for Ordinary People.

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Social and media context of the film

Social context

• What is the film about - what are its subjects and themes?
• Show how it brings together the modern world and traditional values (modern veterinary medicine and Tom's "horse-whispering"; Annie's New York media lifestyle and Tom's life on the ranch).
• Contrast the familiar urban rat-race Annie works in with Tom's idyllic cowboy lifestyle - of which we all secretly dream.

Media context

• Explain how Nicholas Evans's novel has been adapted for film.
• Note significant changes: lovemaking, Tom's death and Annie's pregnancy have all been cut out. Why? (This may be to keep the film to a manageable length, and/or to gain a lower age certificate, as a film about horses is likely to appeal to young viewers.)

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Language

• Comment on any interesting passages of dialogue - especially those which establish the characters of Grace, Annie and Tom.

Presentational devices

Comment on the following, as far as you are able:

• Structure (sequence) of narrative: how is the story organised? Note how it moves between different locations. Consider the chronology (time sequence) of events.
• Music and sound FX - how do these affect the audience's response to the film?
• Stunts and special effects (SFX) e.g. for the accident scene in the set-up (start of the film) - how do these affect our response?
• Acting - comment on the performances of Scarlett Johansson (Grace), Robert Redford (Tom) and Kristin Scott-Thomas (Annie), as well as the animal "acting".
• Direction - comment on Robert Redford's directing of the film: is it too much of a star vehicle for him, is it too slow-paced, do we have too many shots of the Montana landscape, as in a travel programme?

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Visual images

Comment on the following, as far as you are able:

• Cinematography (how shots are composed, use of colour and lighting and so on)
• the way the film presents (visually) people and horses, the landscape (especially Montana and the Little Big Horn Battlefield)
• the use of camera angles (shots looking down, to show the scale of the journey from New York to Montana; shots looking up at Pilgrim)
• the visual qualities of the set-up: snow, the horses stumbling, the speeding truck

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Significant achievement in cinema

Why is this (or is it not) a good film? To answer this, look in more detail at the following scenes:

• the set-up (the opening) - what we see, hear and understand. Note the viewpoint - the riders, the truck driver, the way they come together
• how horrific injuries to Pilgrim are depicted (the horse was not really hurt in the filming)
• scenes where Tom and Grace work with Pilgrim
• the conclusion/climax to the film
• how well the novel has been adapted - is this a film for viewers of both sexes?

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Horses on film

• How well does the film depict technical aspects of horsemanship and training horses?
• How well does this film compare with other horse films (such as National Velvet, International Velvet, Black Beauty and so on)?

Making a judgement

• Finish your response with a personal evaluation - what you liked about the film, and why.

In writing about The Horse Whisperer you may use reviews from magazines or Web sites. You are allowed to quote from these, but should show quotation with inverted commas. You may express agreement or disagreement with what you find in these reviews.

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GCSE criteria

Exam boards publish guidelines (descriptions, called criteria) for teachers, to help them award marks for speaking and listening, reading and writing. Oral coursework may be marked for speaking and listening, and for reading. Written coursework may be marked for reading and for writing.

Reading

For reading, your mark depends upon how well you do, but you must look at three things:

• The content of the films - what they are about, and their historic and media significance.
• Style, structure and appeal to audience.
• Language, presentational devices and visual images - how these create emotive and persuasive effects, and relate to other media.

Writing

For writing your mark depends upon how well you do in two respects:

• How you organize your ideas.
• How you choose a suitable (impersonal) style and control your writing.

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© Andrew Moore, 2000; Contact me

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