White Mane (Released by Janus Films, in association with the...

Buy This Item White Mane (Released by Janus Films, in association with the... by Criterion Collection  Available from Amazon  $11.19  on 9-22-2008     In the south of France, in a near-desert region called La Camargue, lives White Mane, a magnificent stallion and the leader of a herd of wild horses too proud to let themselves be broken in by humans. Only Folco, a young fisherman, manages to tame him. A strong friendship grows between the boy and the horse, as the two go looking for the freedom that the world of men won t allow them. Long unavailable in the U.S., this extraordinarily shot wonder from Albert Lamorisse, the director of The Red Balloon, is a work of technical sophistication and immense natural beauty. Reader Reviews After first seeing them as a child, I recently experienced a theatrical double feature of the beautifully restored prints of The Red Balloon and White Mane, soon to be released by Janus Films in newly-restored DVD format. (The Criterion Collection released a laserdisc of the films in 1986.) French award-winning filmmaker, Albert Lamorisse is best known for The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge) (1956), which not only earned him the Palme d'Or Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but an Oscar that same year (the only dialogue-free film ever to win the award). His forty-seven minute film, White Mane (also known as Crin-Blanc, Crin Blanc, and Cheval Sauvage) (1953), also won numerous awards when it was released, including the the Palme d'Or Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. White Mane follows the adventures of a young boy named Folco (Alain Emery), who befriends an untamable wild white stallion named White Mane in the marshes of Camargue, France. When (in a scene reminiscent of Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar) a gang of ranchers try to spook White Mane by setting fire to the area he lives, Folco jumps on White Mane and rides him bareback across the marshes of Camargue and over the sparse dunes to an island where horses and children coexist as friends forever. This is an equally poignant and truly enchanting film that will captivate children of all ages. G. Merritt

White Mane (Released by Janus Films, in association with the... Available from Amazon Price: $11.19 Updated on 9-22-2008.

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