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In the new documentary, it’s not Robert Redford playing the Horse Whisperer. It’s the man himself.
EnlargeAnyone who knows anything about horses recognizes Buck Brannaman as the real-life inspiration for The Horse Whisperer, the Nicholas Evans novel that Robert Redford adapted into the popular 1998 film. Indeed, during production of the movie, Brannaman served as a technical advisor — and, quite literally, a role model — while Redford performed double duty as director and lead actor.
Now Brannaman himself shines as a movie star. In Buck, a visually striking and deeply affecting documentary, first-time filmmaker Cindy Meehl follows the charismatic trainer as he teaches people to communicate with horses through instinct, not punishment, in the four-day clinics that occupy three-quarters of his year. Her film is a fascinating character portrait, showing how the soft-spoken Brannaman — a disciple of legendary trainers Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance — survived his traumatic childhood with a physically abusive father, and drew upon his hard-won life lessons while developing his humane approach to training horses, and their owners, with understanding, compassion, and respect.
“I know there’s a lot of great horsemen out there,” Meehl says, “but you watch Buck with a horse, and you’ll see that after only 15, 20 minutes, the ears are up, the eyes are soft, and the horse is really following him. I’ve seen other horsemen in action where I don’t think the horse is quite as relaxed. There’s some magical gift that Buck has. And he works at it so hard.”
Appropriately enough, Buck had its world premiere last winter at Robert Redford’s 2011 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for best documentary, and was embraced by influential movie blogger Jeffrey Wells as “a meditative heart-warmer about healing and parenting.” Film critic Ray Greene hailed the “graceful documentary” as “a movie that, if widely seen, actually could make the world a better place.”
Meehl, whose background is in fashion and art, met Brannaman in 2003 at one of his clinics. “And in four days,” she says, “he taught me more about horses than anyone ever had in all the decades I’d been dealing with them.” Even though she’d never made a movie before, Brannaman made such a profound impression that Meehl decided to make a documentary to share the man and his philosophy.
Brannaman made it easy. “He’s so used to just strapping on his mike and talking to people all day long,” Meehl says. “He was never at a loss for words. There would be times when I’d say, ‘Could you give me a little sound bite about this?’ ... and you’d get a half hour out of him. Of course, he could also be really brief. But either way, you never cut Buck off. You never say, ‘Okay, that’s good.’ You just listen.”
Buck is set to open June 17 in New York and Los Angeles before kicking off a nationwide theatrical release. You can find out when and where it’s playing in your area at www.buckthefilm.com.
