A century after his grandfather, a soldier of the 116e Canadian Battalion, Richard Blackburn retraces the path taken by it during the last hundred days of the First World War in 1918. Riding Archibald and Tinker Bell, two Canadian horses, the rider tries to educate adults and children, as well as historians and enthusiasts who cross his path on the primordial role played by these equines at the time.
This is how the 90-minute documentary delivers most of its information, although Louise Leroux adds a few details here and there through the narration. This mechanism, although interesting, nevertheless brings lengths to the work, the dialogues not being synthesized, since they are authentic.
Rather, the feature draws its strength from Richard Blackburn’s knowledge of horses, when he talks about veterinary field hospitals or the difference between Canadian and European equines. The archives, sometimes very raw, form the second strength of the work, their insertion in fading with news images brings a certain dynamism and interesting parallels, unlike the editing which offers a rather slow pace.
Proudly displaying a real poppy found during his journey from Amiens, France, to Mons, Belgium, Richard Blackburn pays passionate homage to man’s noblest conquest, the horse.
Watch video