Review of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) by Jennifer B — 01 Mar 2010

Here's a goofy premise: a 2h film about a dance marathon. Interested? Well, you should be, as Sydney Pollock has made one of his greatest masterpieces based on just this idea.

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is a shocking, complex, innovative and just overall powerful psychological drama. It's also a wise, ahead-of-its-time analysis of the way people are dehumanized in the world of entertainment and how in fact the phenomenon is just a more direct representation of something that is happening all the time everywhere.

Pollack begins the story as a realistic, politically relevant period piece about the depression of the 30's and turns it gradually into a sharp and hectic journey into the hidden parts of the ever deepening charactes. The way this is accomplished- dynamically and seamlessly- is truly an example of flawless directing. And the movie doesn't lose anything during this metamorphosis. The political resonance present at the beginning is in fact never as strong as during the nightmarish, totally opressive "dance" scenes and flashbacks of the dramatic climax.

When the magnificent interaction between sassily energetic Fonda and subtly sorrowful Sarrazin is added to this all, the result is a near-perfect example of the way storytelling can turn the silliest ideas into the most insightful constructs of art.