Film In Preview

John Ford, director of ‘How Green Was My Valley’ and many other great westerns, once said, “It is easier to get an actor to be a cowboy than to get a cowboy to be an actor.”

Well when one considers that quote in regards to Mr. Buck Brannaman it may seem a contradiction of terms; Buck was a primary influence on Robert Redford’s 1998 film ‘The Horse Whisperer’ and he is now the focus of newly released documentary simply titled ‘Buck’. Is Brannaman an actor/ cowboy that John Ford spoke of? No, with a soft drawl he explained, “you know, I don’t have any fake ideas about this. Doing the film was fun, I get to travel and meet a lot of people, but I know that in a year or so most of the people will forget who I am, and I’ll just go back to my life.  And that’s ok with me.”

Brannaman is one of the world’s most revered horse trainers, travelling 40 weeks per year to run clinics across North America and the globe. ‘Buck’ follows Brannaman as he travels hundreds of miles away from his family to the clinics, in quiet solitude.

The film traverses landscapes that echo of Annie Proulx or Jim Harrison’s stories — mountainous and docile. It is easy to resign yourself to the old cliché and “judge a book by its cover” because, as a documentary film about horses, it seems easy to bypass. However, as far as stories go, Buck’s is one of the most intriguing and humbling that you may ever encounter. 

Early in life, Brannaman and his biological brother were at the hands of physical abuse from their father and moved to a foster family, the Shirleys (and on a side note, the Shirley family raised over 20 foster sons and deserve a film of their own!)  Now, as Brannaman has healed himself and regained the trust that was lost in his youth, he acknowledged his ability to heal horses, “I do the best I can.  It’s just as much about the horses as it is about the people.” 

Buck’s ‘best’ happens to encourage an honest reassessment of who you are, where you come from and where you’re going.  It’s easy to see that Brannaman’s heart easily outweighs his body; every interview is glowing — from ranch owners to family members to Robert Redford, who aptly states, “he’s the real deal.” 

At the conclusion of the film we are introduced to a troubled young colt, orphaned as a baby and now grown into an aggressive animal and “a danger to the owner and all who were around him.” 

The colt’s story is not a happy one, despite the “super human powers” that many believe Buck has, he is just a man doing his best. “I can’t fix something that’s broken. The owner brought a lot of baggage to the table and I couldn’t heal them. Obviously it made me quite sad but I can’t keep holding on to that, I have to just keep going. I can’t get mad at her or the horse. How they were didn’t happen overnight.”

And there we are,  turned to face ourselves at the hand of this man who has so much to offer, not just horses and animal-lovers, but all humans. As the interview concludes it seems that Buck may have well outstripped the success of many other men with one quote; “I love this and I don’t plan on retiring, I am already doing what I love and I will still be roping when I am 90.”

‘Buck’ will be in cinemas in early February.