Beautiful, polished images of horses frolicking on a beach set the tone for this adaptation of Christophe Donner’s children’s novel. Without reinventing anything, Christian Duguay effectively draws the viewer into an edifying story, intended for the whole family, whose predictable outcome is however a little too arranged “with the guy in the views”. Obviously, the ambition of the Quebec filmmaker was to offer above all a cinematographic spectacle. As such, he takes his bet with Storm.
Christian Duguay thus draws the best from a story that could easily have been steeped in good feelings (we don’t always avoid them) and from which we see all the dramatic springs coming from afar. Stormnamed after the filly born at the same time as Zoé, the little girl whose career we will follow over fifteen years, essentially revolves around a story of perseverance in the face of adversity, both human and jock.
All the ingredients are there for a film that plays on both action and emotion. Christian Duguay displaying an undeniable know-how in horse racing scenes (the one taking place during a snowfall is particularly successful), Storm works on both counts, despite its big strings.
Mélanie Laurent and Pio Marmaï play Zoé’s parents and form a credible film couple. Carmen Kassovitz, one of the three actresses chosen to play the heroine at different ages, stands out favorably in the last act. The most interesting character in this story, however, remains on the periphery. In the role of a groom endowed with a special gift for communicating with horses, Kacey Mottet Klein offers a composition of very fine subtlety. We would have liked to say the same for everything else.
Drama
Storm
Christian Duguay
With Pio Marmaï, Mélanie Laurent, Kacey Mottet Klein
1:49
Indoors