Horse racing is known as the “sport of kings”. No wonder – who can afford thoroughbred breeding, keeping and training of these noble animals. At least not the supermarket cashier Jan (Toni Collette). And yet one evening she suddenly had the crazy idea of breeding a racehorse, even though she had little money and no experience with horses. But dog and carrier pigeon breeding also worked out in the end. The idea seems like the moderately convincing idea of a screenwriter who succeeds an underdog against all odds want to bring exciting horse racing pictures to a film. It is all the more amazing that “Dream Horse” is based on a true story. The real actors can be seen at the end of the film.
Its beginning suggests a typically British social drama, Jan’s everyday life is pure working class dreariness. During the day she works at the checkout in the supermarket, in the evening she helps out in the pub in the Welsh village, where she lives with her husband Brian (Owen Teale). He’s anything but an upset, a man in early retirement with osteoarthritis and tooth gaps who can hardly be removed from the television. The children are out of the house, Jan takes care of their elderly parents in her free time. Your frustration is palpable. Her village also looks poor and left behind. There is the pub, the supermarket and a lot of green, one wonders what the people in the village actually live on.
The foal is called Dream Alliance – because the whole village dreams together
Toni Collette plays Jan as a staid, but fundamentally sympathetic heroine who insists on a little momentum, a goal, a dream in a dreary life. It is precisely because her idea is so crazy that she manages to get her husband and tax advisor and horse expert Howard (Damian Lewis), and ultimately half the village, excited about it. Together they decide to found a cooperative that shares the cost of the horse. And finally a foal is born that they call Dream Alliance.
There is nothing in this film that is not somehow expected. That a horse grows up with amateurs in the garden and becomes a champion against all odds, is known from various horse films, the idiosyncratic staff of the village community is reminiscent of British (tragic) comedies based on the model of Bill Forsyth’s “Local Hero” (1983). There are few surprises in this film by Euros Lyn and screenwriter Neil McKay, and yet it’s hard not to like it.
Toni Collette and Owen Teale breed their “Dream Horse”.
(Photo: Kerry Brown / World Cinema)
“Hywl” is a Welsh word that, according to the villagers, means something like emotional conviction, motivation and verve. That is what moves the “Dream Alliance”, the villagers as a community of dreaming, to invest their manageable savings in the rearing and training of a racehorse. And this “Hywl” feeling is also the leitmotif of the film, a plea not to be satisfied with the dreary status quo.
The horse is a fighter, so are the villagers
The race the “Dream Horse” is heading towards is the Welsh Grand National, a legendary obstacle race charged with patriotism in which the horses jump over numerous fences. Dream Alliance is described as a “fighter”, the horse has to overcome hurdles, also in a figurative sense, and thus becomes a role model for the villagers. A lot is in motion with Jan and her husband, who is even using dentures more and more frequently, and also with the other members of the cooperative. You travel, unmoved, rustic, to ever higher-class races, the “trainer and owner” access pass for the VIP lounge in your pocket. Here the butcher’s wife and the mayor, the local drunkard and the old lady meet snobs of the “better society”, rich horse-seaters, aristocrats and celebrities. This gives the film amusing and triumphant moments.
All of this seems almost naively optimistic. A filmmaker like Ken Loach, whose social dramas seldom turn out well, is likely to have his stomach turned by this winning streak of rural precariat against the establishment. And animal rights activists have long criticized the obstacle races, in which Dream Alliance’s fighting skills can be demonstrated, as cruelty to animals (a similar debate is currently taking place about riding in modern pentathlon). But who wants to complain about a film that primarily wants to put you in a good mood, especially when the story of encouragement is based on facts.
Dream Horse, GB 2020 – Director: Euros Lyn. Book: Neil McKay. Camera: Erik Wilson. Editing: Jamie Pearson. Music: Benjamin Woodgates. With: Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, Owen Teale, Joanna Page. Distribution: Weltkino, 114 minutes. From August 12th in the cinema.