Review of The Water Horse (2007) by Filipeneto — 01 Oct 2018

The story of this film is clearly inspired by the legends surrounding the "Loch Ness Monster", a creature that supposedly inhabits Scotland's deepest and most famous lake. The script is based on the deep relationship between the creature, a "water horse", and a young boy who had few friends, fear of water and an unresolved mourning after his father died in a shipwreck, probably provoked by a German submarine (everything happens during World War II). It does not matter if you believe in the existence of this creature or not, the fact is that the film works well as a family movie, creating a moving story and managing to form a strong bond of empathy between the audience and the characters, especially the boy, his mother and the little monster, who is a perfectly lovely creature. Everything was thought to create empathy with the audience, to involve our emotional side, and this works wonderfully well. A curious point is that the great villains are the British soldiers, with a deeply harsh and somewhat imperialistic pose, which may possibly be a subliminal criticism of the relationship between the English and the Scots.

Alex Etel did a good performance in the role of little Angus and Brian Cox also performed very well with the task of playing the character these days. Ben Chaplin made a very good character who made an excellent counterpoint to the villain, the British official played by David Morrissey. Emily Watson also pleased me, playing a careful, stiff but loving mother who has recently widowed and still misses her husband. However, it's the monster that enchants and deserves greatest attention. Of course, it's great quality CGI. The cinematography is excellent and the Scottish landscapes enchanted me, with large green hills and picturesque villages. The soundtrack is very good and plays its part wonderfully, but is quickly forgotten after the movie ends.

Overall this is a great movie for an afternoon with the whole family and it has everything for everyone, but it will be especially appealing to the younger ones of course.