‘The Black Stallion’ is a fictional film based on a novel. A young boy, Alec, is traveling with his father on a ship near Northern Africa. On the ship, he encounters a ferocious Arabian horse, which he later named ‘Black’ for the color of the horse’s mane, being transported under ropes and heavy ties. Alec takes a liking to Black, feeding him some sugar cubes, even though he was told not to. A massive storm hits the ship, and Alec rescues the horse from his ties before they both fall overboard. After waking up shipwrecked on a deserted island, Alec again encounters Black running free on the beaches. Alec slowly bonds with Black, and they become inseparable. I won’t talk about the specifics to avoid spoiling.

While the film is intended for kids, I believe everyone would appreciate it. I was awestruck watching such a majestic film that depicts the emotional relationship between Alec and the horse. A lengthy stretch of the film during the deserted island was especially captivating. There are no people or vehicles or buildings or language. There is no sign of civilization in sight. For about 25 minutes, the film leaves us with only the sounds of roaring waves, calm winds, raindrops tip-tapping, a subtle background score, and the two of them bonding. It felt remarkable to watch. The cinematography, editing, visuals, score, and acting allow you to feel the same emotions as Alec does. I can only imagine how it must have looked on the big screen in 1979.

Would I recommend this? Yes. The description above might not do justice. The only word I can think of to describe the experience is spiritual. It’s gentle, soothing, and subtle. If you appreciate something original and fresh, this film is it.

_**Aesthetically pleasing, but dramatically dull**_

A boy befriends a fiery Arabian stallion in the Mediterranean in 1946 and ends up hooking up with an ex-horse racing trainer (Mickey Rooney) back home in the northeast USA. Teri Garr plays the mother.

"The Black Stallion" (1979) starts out like Tarzan’s origin, just substituting the horse for the apes, before switching to the typical sports formula (young underdog’s talent is recognized and trained by an over-the-hill mentor). Thankfully, this is not a Disney kiddie flick; the tone is artistic and mature with the same visual/audio wonder of “The Secret Garden” (1993), both movies produced by Francis Ford Coppola.

While it’s as aesthetically awesome as “The Secret Garden,” it’s not as dramatically engaging. Teri Garr's role is negligible and Rooney’s character isn’t interesting like, say, Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid” (1984) or even Nick Nolte’s ‘Socrates’ in “Peaceful Warrior” (2006). Either Garr’s part needed beefed up or the scriptwriters should’ve added another character to the mix, like a girl who befriends the boy, but SOMETHING to keep things compelling.

As it is, the story is too dull to maintain the interest of most people over 7 years-old. But the stallion is magnificent and I appreciated the relationship between boy & beast, not to mention the excellent post-war era décor and the afore-noted artistic exquisiteness.

The film runs 1 hour, 57 minutes, and was shot in Sardinia, Italy (island sequences), and the Toronto area of Canada, with some stuff done in northwest Oregon (Astoria, Gearhart and Nehalem).

GRADE: C+