Crin blanc: Le cheval sauvage (1953)
Directed by Albert Lamorisse

Film Review

Albert Lamorisse's short films Crin blanc and Le Ballon rouge occupy a special place in cinema, deceptively simple pictorial fables that evoke the innocence of childhood and the cruelty of the adult world more powerfully than perhaps any other film.  These are two cinematic gems that have a unique poetry which makes them as beguiling to adults as they are enchanting to children, and it is strange how one's perception and appreciation of them changes as one grows older.  There is a bleakness to both films that is probably imperceptible to a child audience but which becomes increasingly evident as you watch them in later years.  The two films end with a little boy apparently finding the happiness he desperately yearns for, but he does so by fleeing far from the world of men into his own private Idaho.  What first appears to be a happy ending is, on reflection, a grim admission of the fact that it is only in fairytales that dreams can ever come true.

Crin blanc is the most visually captivating of all Lamorisse's films, which is hardly an accident as the film employs one of the most stunning natural landscapes in France.  The opening sequence of wild horses roaming freely across the beaches and marshes of the Camargue is one that will stay with you forever, as too will the sequence which closes the film, one that is imbued with such poignancy that you can barely resist the urge to weep.  It may have a reputation as a children's film but Crin blanc does have a dark side to it and it certainly does not keep from us the brutal realities of life.  In its most shocking sequence there is a protracted full-on fight between two wild horses.  It is hard not to flinch as the duelling stallions lay into each other, biting and kicking in a mad frenzy.  Horrific as this is, it is a common enough occurrence amongst wild horses and appears tame compared with the mindless cruelty that the ranchers inflict on White Mane throughout the film.

Le Ballon rouge deserves its reputation as Albert Lamorisse's masterpiece but Crin blanc comes a close second, and it can be argued that you cannot fully appreciate either of these films without having watched the other.  Crin blanc received mixed reviews when it was first released but it won its director the Palme d'Or for the Best Short Film at the 1953 Festival de Cannes and also the Prix Jean Vigo for Short Film in the same year.  Not only is Crin blanc an exquisite piece of cinema that can hardly fail to enthral an audience of any age with its narrative simplicity and peculiar lyricism, it also encapsulates - with a brutal succinctness - two of the great tragedies of human experience: the transience of childhood and the cruelty of man.

Film Synopsis

Across the vast expanse of wetland in the Camargue region of south-eastern France, a herd of wild horses roam, led by their indomitable leader White Mane.  This fierce white stallion attracts a party of ranchers who are resolved to capture and tame him, so far without success.  A little fisherboy named Folco watches in admiration as White Mane evades his human tormentors.  Sparing little thought to the risks involved, he makes up his mind to capture the horse and make him his friend.