Buck
IFC Centre, August 4, 2011
Movie #56 for 2011
Just as Bill Cunningham New York was pretending to be a documentary about fashion, Buck is pretending to be a documentary about horses. It's really about something else entirely.
Buck Brannaman is a horseman who travels around the US for nine months a year running four-day clinics that help “horses with people problems”. Surprisingly, this makes for an excellent film about human nature and how we relate to one another.
The story of Buck’s childhood is engaging - he was raised in a violent and oppressive household until he was twelve - but more so are the choices he has made as an adult. A deeply empathetic person, Buck has good-looks, gentle eloquence, self-effacing grace and a deep respect for people and horses that makes him one of the best trainers going.
There are some glaring gaps in the film that would have taken only a few minutes to address - the missing voices of Buck’s older brother and his two elder daughters. Although it is a little jarring, the rest of the film smoothes this away.
The film is beautifully shot and elegantly put together by director CINDY MEEHL. And it’s not even remotely about horses.
