Director Steven Spielberg arrives at the world premiere of War Horse in New York, Dec. 4. (REUTERS/Carlo Allegri)

NEW YORK -- It's usually an accident of scheduling when Steven Spielberg releases two films simultaneously, as in 1993 with Jurassic Park and Schindler's List.

This time -- with the performance-capture thrill-ride The Adventures of Tintin and the First World War-themed emotional ride War Horse -- the legendary filmmaker says it was deliberate.

"I don't think there's a problem with this movie and Tintin coming out at the same time," he says to the suggestion that he's competing with himself.

"Yes, it's both the same audience. But my philosophy was, if I didn't make War Horse, someone else would. And it would have come out at Christmas right on top of Tintin, so what the heck?"

Spielberg was in post-production on the adaptation of the cartoonist Herge's Tintin when his longtime production partner Kathleen Kennedy decided to take in a play in London.

It happened to be the acclaimed theatrical adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel about a boy and his farm horse Joey, a steed that's drafted into the British cavalry when the First World War breaks out and has adventures en route home. The Tony-winning play was notable for its ingenious use of equine puppetry.

"I took my kids during vacation because I was looking for something fun," says Kennedy. "Often times I am frankly looking for things that might be something we want to collaborate on, but I didn't go to the play with that in mind.

"I went because I'd heard wonderful things. And I was stunned by how emotional people were in the audience. When I got back, Steven and I were doing early scoring on Tintin. And I said, 'I just saw this remarkable play.' And Steven said, 'Oh my God, that sounds like a great story for a movie."

So off to the theatre Spielberg went. "Some people came out of the play talking about the brilliant puppetry. But I came out admiring a very strong narrative, a beginning a middle and an end." The result was a moving piece, full of British actors like Tom Hiddleston, Peter Mullan and newcomer Jeremy Irvine in the human lead.

There are any number of ways War Horse seems in Spielberg's wheelhouse:

1) It's a war story. Spielberg has made a few of those, from Saving Private Ryan to producing Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima films and TV's Band Of Brothers. "I do not consider War Horse to be a war movie," he demurs. "I consider it to be a love story between a horse and a young man, and a story of great hope and great connection that this horse makes on what is almost an odyssey."

2) It makes grown men cry, emotional button-pushing being his forte. "Well, that was not my intention," he says with a laugh.

"But the play made me cry. I cried because I honestly felt a catharsis. And when I read the book, it also brought a lump to my throat."

3) He is a horse person. "It's why my back is still out today. I did ride in the mid-'80s and I got my back hurt, so I don't anymore. My wife rides, and my 15-year-old daughter is a competitive jumper. We have 12 horses on our property, so I've been interacting with horses for a long time."

4) He hangs the movie on Irvine, a film newbie. "I'm a veteran of foolhardy casting," he says, "giving Drew Barrymore her first chance to help carry E.T., and letting (13-year-old) Christian Bale totally carry Empire of the Sun. I've risked everything on new people I've believed in. Because if I think they've got it, they can work with what they bring to me. And Jeremy had it. He's affable, he had a tremendous connection with these animals, even though he didn't ride until War Horse."

5) He loves historical stories (his next movie is Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis). "I've always worried that history is so fleeting now that we are so busy consuming contemporary culture.

"And so I make a lot of movies about history because I think we really can't see ourselves unless we can see our grandparents, our great-grandparents, our history. We need that."

jim.slotek@sunmedia.ca

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