Realism Rides Right Into the Magical ‘West’

In “Into the West,” two streetwise Irish brothers befriend a magnificent white stallion that leads them out of their Dublin high-rise housing project, into a countrywide chase and the free gypsy life the family once knew. (Rated PG)

*

Ten-year-old Elizabeth Bonilla had been anticipating this movie for two weeks. “I’m Irish, my brother’s a cowboy, it looked exciting to see horses and Ireland, and it was funny, too, so I thought, ‘Let’s go see this movie and see how it is.’ ”

It was, as it turned out, deeper and sadder than she figured, a rich family saga with a highly emotional and complex ending that mixes the real with the profoundly wished-for. Unlike most animal tales, this one was told in a form of magical realism.

In the movie, the father, a former gypsy “traveler,” has turned to alcohol in his grief over losing his wife. And the boys, left to fend for themselves, are not surprised to find that a horse can provide the comfort, wisdom and nurturing they lack.

The horse and the brothers are pursued by the father and authorities to Ireland’s western coast, where the horse runs into the sea with the younger boy on its back. In this final scene, the younger brother is rescued from the sea, but the movie makers leave it open for interpretation whether it was the horse or the mother’s spirit that reaches out to save him.

“I thought it was the mother’s hair,” Elizabeth said. “My mom thought it was the horse’s tail. That was the confusing part. I didn’t know what to think.”

Kristin Lawrence, 10, said she, too, found the movie more complicated than she was led to believe from TV ads.

“It was sort of hard to follow. You don’t know what’s going on when the horse is taking them across the mountains.”

Some younger kids said they liked the “horsey,” but the older kids thought the younger ones probably didn’t really get it.

“I mean, I barely understood” the end, Elizabeth said. “All the rest was really clear to me and everything else I really, really liked. It was a good movie.”

Despite their confusion, both girls gave it a perfect five out of five stars.

Elizabeth thought the movie had the excitement of an adult-paced helicopter chase but was even better because it involved children.

“There were two kids, one young and one almost my age, being chased by the police with guns on a horse. I think it was very nice,” Elizabeth said. “ ‘The Fugitive’ was a good chase, too, but that was an adult. Adults are always so smart and find a way out. But with kids, they’re just learning, plus they barely know how to read, the father’s so un-alert, and the horse is doing a lot of thinking.”

Kids found humor in the movie, too. Elizabeth said she laughed when the boys tried to heat cans of beans in an open fire and were covered with hot beans when the cans exploded.

But the images that stayed with the kids the most came from the suspenseful, three-hankie ending.

“I thought the horse was going to die when he went in the water,” Elizabeth said. “I thought it was sad when (the boy) wasn’t waking up on the beach. It was the only part I almost cried in.”

It was the only part I openly sobbed in, too.

Most of all, Elizabeth, who has four siblings, said she was touched by the portrayal of intense family bonds.

“What I liked about the story was that the two brothers were so nice to each other and tried to help each other. They always stuck together. I thought it was a really good movie to think of. It’s all about the family and how you should always try to care about your family and try to help.”