black stallion

It’s should come as no surprise that The Black Stallion (1979), director Carroll Ballard’s poetic masterpiece of “kid friendly” filmmaking, has been added to the prestigious Criterion Collection. What is surprising is that it took so damn long!

After a terrifying shipwreck, the only two survivors washed ashore on a deserted Mediterranean island are a young boy, Alec (Kelly Reno), and the wild Arabian horse that towed him to safety. Bonded by the experience, both boy and horse are rescued and returned to America where a chance friendship with a retired jockey (Mickey Rooney) pits Alec’s “Mystery Horse” in a race against the world’s fastest.

The Black Stallion can be summarized with very little effort. But despite the simple story, broken essentially into two distinct halves, Ballard’s film is beautifully rich in both visuals and characters. Only his first feature, the director leans on his documentary background to capture a natural world still full of the mysteries and wonder only children can appreciate.

The film wordlessly builds its relationship between Alec and “The Black” in the gorgeous island sequences – Caleb Deschanel’s first major DP assignment, which somehow failed to get nominated for an Oscar – then miraculously transposes the tone into a Norman Rockwell-style 1944 America. With a script that was admittedly light on dialogue to begin with, Ballard’s actors essentially improvise their lines, making for a natural and heartfelt performance from Mickey Rooney (who did get noticed by Oscar) and a seemingly effortless one from Reno.

For a film made up of such big images, The Black Stallion focuses on surprisingly small things: a stone rippling through the water, the rough texture of saddle rope, or the dust floating through a stray sunbeam. These are matched with a soundtrack that immerses the viewer in a full-on sensory experience. By doing so, Ballard elevates the natural world to the equal status of his actors, which gives the movie a cinematic spirituality few movies – for kids or adults – can match.

Criterion’s Blu-ray comes from a new 4K scan of the film which leaves all the beautiful grain intact but gives it a gloss not seen since the theatrical premiere. The extras consist of several lengthy interviews from Ballard, Deschanel and set photographer Mary Ellen Mark. But the real gems are a collection of Ballard’s early work; five short films that show his unique style was no accident, with Rodeo (1969) being the most obvious antecedent to The Black Stallion’s look and feel.