Mobile Navigation
Incompatible Worlds
Writer, director Charles Burnett’s fourteen minute short The Horse is a visually romantic and eloquent film. It has been described as a coming-of-age tale though it feels more like a peek into the collision of two worlds. There are two aspects of this film that Burnett mastered; the cinematography and the character of Walter. Visually, the film creates a world bordering on the old and the new. The non-working ranch, dilapidated house and solitary horse stand as vestiges to a world dying before our eyes. The impending death of the horse is the end of this western world. The character of Walter, on the other hand, represents the new world. Burnett shows Walter paying amazing attention to the hemline of his pants and the cleanliness of his city shoes. This moment portrays just how incompatible the two worlds are. Walter’s speech is a halting contrast to the languid sounds of the ranch. His brashness disturbs the stillness and invades the calmness of this fading place. Walter’s disregard for the death of the horse is further telling of a world no longer needed or wanted by the modern one. What begins in daylight, ends in dark, an erudite ending.
—Dawn Spinella
Common Ground
In When It Rains, Charles Burnett establishes a beat-jazz-poetry docu-drama world where everybody is broke, just like real life. But in this sunny world, a Good Samaritan does his best to help another and gains invaluable insight into connecting with others and solving problems. The good friend discovers that money isn’t always the resolution when, after searching all day for cash to pay the rent, he winds up with a record. Surprisingly, the landlord has been longing for this record and accepts it in lieu of rent. The friend mentions that he should have looked for common ground with this landlord, a lesson that one could apply to all aspects of life, and particularly in problem solving. The music itself is a strong force in this short. The drum rhythm was a powerful message--we can survive anything--the drums seemed to say. Burnett worked on Larry Clark’s jazz-inspired Passing Through in 1977, and he may have carried over an interest in the relationship between jazz and community, but When It Rains is its own cheerful and upbeat short film.
