Son of the White Mare

Composite Score: 86.2

Starring: György Cserhalmi, Vera Pap, Gyula Szabó, Ferenc Szalma, Mari Szemes, Szabolcs Tóth, and Ottó Ulmann

Director: Marcell Jankovics

Writers: László György and Marcell Jankovics

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Fantasy

MPAA Rating: Unrated

Box Office: $9 worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Son of the White Mare is Marcell Jankovics’s animated adventure film adaptation of the folk legends of the steppe peoples, as compiled in László Arany’s narrative poetry of the same name. It follows Fanyüvö (Treeshaker), the third son of a horse who seeks to restore the order of the world by partnering with his two brothers – Kömorzsoló (Stonecrusher) and Vasgyúró (Ironrubber) – to vanquish the dragons who stole the Forefather’s power and freeing the princesses who have been trapped by them. Their story plays out in a near seamless animated stream of images that feels like something that could only have come out of the 1980s. The film is considered one of the best animated films of all time and has received recognition for its portrayal of folklore and captivating art style.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                Son of the White Mare is a 1980s animated film, and that comes with all the weirdness and wackiness of so many of the possibly drug-fueled films of that genre and era. Visually, there’s a lot to take in, with so many of the film’s and story’s themes being explored not through dialogue or story points but through the images on the screen themselves, and it can easily become overwhelming, especially if you’re someone who struggles to follow films with subtitles to begin with (assuming you don’t speak fluent Hungarian). This is not a children’s animated feature that you can just put on and pick out how things are going to go (granted once you start to understand the story, its conventions become readily apparent). You’ve got to watch and engage fully with this film if you hope to enjoy and/or understand all that it has to offer.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                Wild as the visuals are, their origins in Hungarian and related folk art is inescapable, tying the images on-screen to the story they are telling, helping Jankovics accomplish his vision of paying homage to those stories and the people who first told them. It’s a triumph of a unique film, giving us not only a story that we don’t always see, hear, or read, but also visuals that rarely make it out of experimental filmmaking. (Yes, this film also probably falls more under the umbrella of cult classic or experimental film, but it has earned a spot on this list, meaning that it also has resonated with some in mainstream film circles.) The way that each frame of animation flows smoothly into the next, and the way it utilizes repeated images and motifs to keep the audience apprised of the situation helps it to feel all the more like a story being told around a fireplace or campfire by some community elder, and it’s one of the best examples I can think of that showcases how to combine oral and visual traditions without having to write a book.

                Son of the White Mare offers a visually engaging and traditionally enriching exploration of folklore and the stories of the steppe peoples, earning a spot among the Greatest Films of All Time as it does so. Its unique style and story might be hard at first for viewers to follow and/or engage with, but those who stick it out will probably find that they’ve watched something that they can’t soon forget. Currently, this film can be streamed on Night Flight Plus or via a library connection to Kanopy if you’d like to check it out.