Van Mannen en Merries (1998)

Overview

The film shows life and work on two farms in Zeeland, a province in the Netherlands. Here, a few farmers, for different reasons, have chosen to keep on working with cart-horses of the Belgian ‘Underbred’-race. These huge and heavy horses, with their calm and friendly character were traditionally used in this region because of the heavy clay. Nowadays, all farmers, except for a small group of stubborn horse-lovers, switched to the tractor. The film interweaves the story of the farmers with the life cycle of the horses. As the story develops, the specific interest of each separate farmer: breeding, horse-show or workpride, becomes clear. Their relationship of silent comra-deship with the horses, the rhythm of their days, and their involvement in the well being of the horses sound through every scene. Above all, it’s a film told with a sense of down to earth humour, about love, life and death and of people that hold on to what is dear to them.

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