Premiering this week at the Locarno Film Festival, The Cavalry is a stunning experimental short documentary that plays like a modern-day Trojan horse. In the opening shot, director Alina Orlov serenades the audience with field recordings of birds chirping, waves ascending, and wind swirling throughout a picturesque seaside community. The beauty of this natural setting is amplified when the camera cuts to an outlet called the Green Mountain Stables. Here, we come face to face with a majestic Friesian horse. But this isn’t any ordinary horse, this is a horse belonging to the Israeli police.

A Horse as a Political Weapon

While much of the 17-minute documentary focuses on the training of a single police horse, The Cavalry isn’t a story about horses. The deeper message captures the reality of living under the separation border of Isreal and the West Bank. Masking political chaos behind the beauty of this innocent horse is a skilled angle that Orlov accomplishes artfully. Captions take the place of voiceovers and narratively move the story forward.

The film picks up as a new horse joins the Israeli police troop and undergoes training. Like boot camp for aspiring soldiers, the horse is put through drills that condition the animal to face fear. It’s non-abusive and at times, even comical to witness. The horse’s quiet assertiveness, even while being poked and prodded by the Israeli soldier, is admirable and cultivates a relationship built on trust. As we witness an evolving bond, it is clear that The Cavalry is a film that honors this rich history between man and mammals.

Art Film Meets Political Documentary

Director Alina Orlov takes an experimental approach when it comes to the visual aesthetic. The footage of modern, daily life is seen in kaleidoscopic colors and contrasting imagery. Mixed media is used to represent historical moments in time. Both images are stark and breathtaking. The decision to end the film with images of protests and the horses in action is a sobering reality of the many faces of war.

Takeaway

Despite being a short film, The Cavalry feels much bigger than its runtime. Part video art and part hyper-realistic documentary, The Cavalry is a stunning observation of control and oppression in our society.