Product Details

• Actors: Alain Emery, Laurent Roche, Pascal Lamorisse, Clan-Clan, Francois Perie
• Directors: Albert Lamorisse
• Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: French (Unknown)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Criterion Collection
• DVD Release Date: April 29, 2008
• Run Time: 40 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0012Z361W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,884 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "White Mane (The Criterion Collection)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Features include:

•MPAA Rating: G
•Format: DVD
•Runtime: 40 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could be the Most Beautiful Black and White Cinematography Ever, May 14, 2008

By 

Gerard D. Launay (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: White Mane (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I gasp at the beauty of this film...the only way to describe it is to imagine a nature photograph of Edward Weston or Ansel Adams coming to life. The story is simple enough. A wild horse that runs free in the South of France is captured by some French "cowboys", yet refuses to be tamed and breaks free. Despite several efforts of the cowboys to retrieve this pick of the horses, White Mane will only allow himself to be handled by a young boy - the son of a fisherman in harmony with nature. But it is not the story that makes this film sing...it is the combination of some of the most beautiful, lyrical images I have ever seen on the screen, the folk music of the South of France, and the very sparse narration in the French language. So therefore, it is a film where nature in the raw unfolds before our eyes...without distractions of unnecessary conversation or sentimental music.

A few words about the fighting among the horses. Everyone knows this is common to determine status and rank in the herd. That is reality...in the animal world and, alas, in the human world also. What the film does is depict "White Mane" as he truly is, wild. untamed, and even a little brutal.

This is poetry in film, plain and simple. This is allegory. And it is even ballet as the music - when it is played - is coordinated so perfectly with the movement of the cowboys or the horse. If you are someone who finds joy in watching a jackrabbit scampering along the cracked earth with a wild stallion accompanying his rhythms, then this is the film for you.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A minor classic, January 31, 2008

By 

Anthony Clarke (Woodend, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: White Mane (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

I saw this movie very many years ago, and the magic remains. Albert Lamorisse crafted a simple tale, almost without words, of a fisher-boy in France's Camargue region, and his love for the wild white stallion whose independence and freedom is threatened by man. The black and white photography is luminous, dazzling with its intense beauty. And the film's ending will stay with you forever.
Criterion is releasing on two separate DVDs two short movies by Lamorisse shot around the same time -- this one, and the better-known 'Balloon Rouge' or 'Red Balloon', made a handful of years later. Such a shame these two films, which total just 90 minutes together, could not have been released together on just one disc. 'Crin Blanc' is the finer of the two. It is a film for all people, of all ages.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet beauty, May 15, 2008

By 

William Timothy Lukeman - See all my reviews
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This review is from: White Mane (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

A companion to the same director's classic "The Red Balloon," this exquisite film probably wouldn't be made for children today ... and that's a pity. Children, simply by being younger, smaller, and weaker than the adult world around them, are already well aware of cruelty. They all understand what it is to be bullied, to be targeted for being different, to have to fight when they'd rather just be left alone. "White Mane" presents this fact of life not brutally, or mercilessly -- but honestly.

And it offers more, as well. The lyrical beauty of the film, the gorgeous black & white photography, the astonishingly expressive face of the boy Folco, all remind us that if there's unfairness in the world, there's also something sublime & deeply moving in it as well -- if only we look for it & see it. And it offers the consolation of art, and of storytelling itself.

I understand the misgivings of some regarding the film's ending. It's ambiguous at best, a harsh reminder that the sensitive of this world are often hounded by those who don't (or won't) understand them, and thus do their best to destroy them. But children can't be protected by denying that sad fact. If anything, a film like this probably enables them to deal with it better.

Adult viewers will savor the poetry, but also shake their heads in doleful recognition. It's a poignant gem of a film, most highly recommended!