The Black Stallion
An evening pause: The central sequence from the 1979 movie, The Black Stallion, when the shipwrecked boy Alec succeeds in taming the shipwrecked Arabian horse. The combination of Carmine Coppola’s music and Caleb Deschanel’s photography in this sequence is unmatched.
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I am happy to see that someone else also has the highest regard for The Black Stallion, but we agree on so many things (libertarian, conservative electronics engineer)that I shouldn’t be surprised.
As you say it is unsurpassed and probably the Best for the match of pure visual wordless beauty, with music (bravo to pappa Coppola).
Carroll Ballard (director) seems to know how to capture the magic;
[see also “Never Cry Wolf” with music by marc isham, and “Wind” just for fun]. Most people don’t know of it or take it seriously..a kids movie!.
But for visual beauty also…have you seen “The Duellists”…ridley scotts first amazing film, again with beautiful music by Howard Blake! Or John Frankenheimers beautiful and stark black and white first film “The Train”.
Also “Days of Heaven” by Terrence Malick has many such moments.
It is wonderful when films can capture visual/musical “magic”.
Along these lines of beautiful or haunting imagery can i offer a list of favorite films/directors (I’ll bet you will also know/appreciate these)
david lean:lawrence of arabia (probably the overall best film realized so far…)
ridley scott:alien,bladerunner, the duellists, legend(faery tale)
carroll ballard:black stallion,never cry wolf
john frankenheimer:the train, black sunday, grand prix
steven speilberg:E.T., close encounters, jaws
james cameron:terminator,aliens,the abyss,avatar
also
william wyler:roman holliday, big country, freindly persuasion
fred zinneman:the day of the jackel, the sundowners
william friedkin:the french connection, the excorsist
sydney pollack:jeremiah johnson, day of the condor
robert mulligan:to kill a mockingbird
Do you know of any other such films that capture that visual magic?
I appreciate your website…be well,
Michael D. mill