“I’m not helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems.” So declares Buck Brannaman in Buck, an affectionate documentary look at a man whose midwestern fusion of animal hero and Americana legend endears him to horse lovers around the globe and inspired novelists and filmmakers who coined him “The Horse Whisperer”. If Steven Spielberg’s War Horse got on your nerves as much as it did mine, then consider Buck the alternative. Simple and pristinely told with nary a manipulative music score or peach-stained sky to wring tears from even the most unflappable of equine fans, this is a charming – if occasionally too thin – look at Buck’s fascinating life.
Buck Brannaman’s troubled childhood, growing up with in an abusive situation, could so easily have beget an equally troubled adult life, but as Buck examines he used this time to reinforce core values within himself and it’s these values that Buck transfers over into the way he treats the horses he so dearly loves. Rather than force the animal into doing what he wants with an iron fist, he coaxes these horses into accepting him and allowing their progression to develop more naturally. Robert Redford, who appears here to dish anecdotes on the man behind his 1998 film, The Horse Whisperer, didn’t bring Buck on to his film set as a stunt double and horse wrangler for nothing. He knows what to do and he does it with velvet ease.
Animal lovers will surely find much to adore in Cindy Meehl’s debut. As she gazes upon this man’s life as he trucks from town to town for 40 weeks of the year giving horse-top tutorials to hypnotised audiences, a tranquillity sets in that makes it easy to understand how Brannaman is able to get horses to do what he does. Picturesque scenery of Montana needs no smoke and mirrors to look as stunning as it does here, though they’re juxtaposed occasionally with the tough plight that landowners in this area of the country face, as well as the rough deal that many animals find themselves in.
It is easy to see how Buck the man could have become a far more grim personality, the kind that tough-bitten films set in this region of America usually portray. What’s uplifting about his story is that he not only rose above the trappings of his life, but also used it to benefit the animals that meant so much to him. Sick of seeing them treated with contempt as if little more use than slaves to the whims of a violent farmhand, he cultivated a way of delicate handling that makes for some sublime footage. He calls it “natural horsemanship”, and he’s as naturally charming as you would expect.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IShjmWYuHZ0
Buck was released in Australia on February 16th
Director: Cindy Meehl