The Silver Brumby (film)

The Silver Brumby is a 1993 Australian family drama film based on the Silver Brumby series of novels by Elyne Mitchell.

Directed by John Tatoulis. Produced by Colin South and John Tatoulis. Written by Elyne Mitchell and Jon Stephens.

The magic of the mountain. The obsession of a man. The beauty of the Silver Brumby.taglines

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Elyne Mitchell

Thanks to Bel Bel, Thowra escaped from his first encounter with Man. But it certainly wasn't to be his last. Thowra didn't realize that he'd become a challenge, a prize, to be pursued and attained at all costs.
Bel Bel led Thowra back to the territory of their own herd and the protection of the mighty stallion Yarraman.
Yarraman was the finest, strongest stallion of all the herds of the high country. He was the King of the Cascade brumbies and now, just when he was needed, he was here to protect his handsome, but still foolish, son and his favorite mare.
Every summer, men returned to the High Country. Every summer they came with their wide horned red and white cattle, their dogs and their pack horses. To man the high country was a pasture, a summer home, a relief from the heat of the plains. It was a place of beauty, and a source of income. To most of the bush creatures the wallabies, wombats, possums and kangaroos, man was a nuisance, an intruder. But to the wild brumbies the arrival of Man meant the arrival of danger.
They fought on and on and as the darkness raced from the shadows of the setting sun, it took with it the strength of the older Yarraman, lord of the Cascade brumbies. As Thowra looked on he knew this would be his proud father's final battle. The Brolga was at his peak and his stamina could not be matched. Thowra also knew that one day the mountains would ring loud with his cries and the earth would carry his blood as he fought to win back a kingdom.
It was quite usual for one stallion to defeat another. Defeat yes. But not kill. But Yarraman was too great a horse to simply be defeated, so The Brolga had left him to die.
As the cold nights and the first frosts marked the ending of summer the men began to muster their cattle and with them went the immediate danger. And with them went more stories about the mystical silver brumby and more tales of his deeds and his daring.
The Man went too, without his precious Golden. But Thowra knew he'd be back to get her. Especially now she was in foal to him. Unlike the other brumbies, Golden was not used to the harsh conditions of winter in the high country. Especially for her sake Thowra kept his small herd moving in search of better pastures.
When the good weather returned no one realized that Golden, having been with men all her life till Thowra captured her, was lacking in the instinct to take the stirrings of her unborn foal calmly. At the last moment Golden left the herd to seek the comfort and protection of her old master.
It would not be a fight to the death for both were magnificent stallions in the prime of their lives. It would be a fight for supremacy, a fight to stay on in the Cascades as King, or leave as the vanquished never to return.
And it was The Brolga who bowed to the youth and grace of Thowra relinquishing his place to the younger son of brave Yarraman.
For years to come men around campfires, women at country shows, children in schools will tell stories of a great silver brumby seen galloping on windpacked snow. Of a ghost horse drinking at the Crackenback River. Of a horse that everyone thought was dead appearing in a blizzard at Dead Horse Gap and vanishing again. Of the wild stallion cry that could only be Thowra's. But no human really knows where the son of Bel Bel roams. Thowra, the greatest brumby of them all.

Egan "The Man"

Where's little creamy, Cooley?
How many did we get Murray?
Two hundred.
She came back to me, silver horse! [laughing]
Just ignore him.
I've got your daughter now, silver devil!
Let's just go and have a look around? Ever get the feeling you're being watched Echo?
I'll teach you to play with me horse.
Golden. Home, Echo, home!
I’ll get you! I swear! I will get you!
I've been waiting for you, Darcy.

Dialogue

Now shut out all other sounds, and concentrate. Concentrate on the wind. Listen. Not for the sound of the wind, but for what you hear on the wind. Listen closely. There's been talk about Thowra for a long time now. Some say he lives. Some say he never existed. Some say he's a ghost. But always there are tales of the mighty wild stallion. The great palomino Brumby. King of all the Cascade brumbies.

Yarraman was the finest, strongest stallion of all the herds of the high country. He was the King of the Cascade brumbies and now, just when he was needed, he was here to protect his handsome, but still foolish, son and his favorite mare.

For years to come men around campfires, women at country shows, children in schools will tell stories of a great silver brumby seen galloping on windpacked snow. Of a ghost horse drinking at the Crackenback River. Of a horse that everyone thought was dead appearing in a blizzard at Dead Horse Gap and vanishing again. Of the wild stallion cry that could only be Thowra's. But no human really knows where the son of Bel Bel roams. Thowra, the greatest brumby of them all.

[On Stormy night]

Elyne Mitchell: Jock?

Jock: Yeah.

Elyne Mitchell: Is everything all right?

Jock: You had a break in the fence down the track a bit. Me and Egan stuck some dead branches in it. Should hold it for a while. We were worried you wouldn't find the break, what with Tom being away and that. You could've lost quite a few cattle. What we did should home 'em I reckon, at least 'till they arrive anyway.

Elyne Mitchell: Would you like to come in?

Jock: No, thanks anyway. Best be gettin' ourselves home, I reckon. If you need us at all you call alright?

Elyne Mitchell: Okay, Jock.

Jock: Okay, go in, go in.

Elyne Mitchell: [Narrating] Every summer, men returned to the High Country. Every summer they came with their wide horned red and white cattle, their dogs and their pack horses. To man the high country was a pasture, a summer home, a relief from the heat of the plains. It was a place of beauty, and a source of income. To most of the bush creatures the wallabies, wombats, possums and kangaroos, man was a nuisance, an intruder. But to the wild brumbies the arrival of Man meant the arrival of danger.

Elyne Mitchell: [Narrating] The Man did not at first realize he had lost Thowra and was almost lost himself. He also failed to understand how the gathering storm had been summoned by Thowra, the wild horse, named for the wind that blew across the high plains.

Egan: Golden. Home Echo, home!

Indi: I knew he could beat The Brolga, Mum. Now Thowra's the King. King of all the Cascade brumbies. It's a fantastic story, Mum. Can I take it to school with me when I go back? Sarah and Dean will just love it.

Elyne: What makes you think it's finished? Do you think The Man thinks it's finished?

Indi: No one can beat Thowra, Mum.

[Darcy arrived the hut]

Egan: I've been waiting for you, Darcy.

Darcy: [calls out] Egan!

Jock: Darcy said he gave them a proper run for their money. Looked like they'd been dragged to hell and back when they got back to my place. But what an ending? Darcy said it was unbelievable. This ghost of a horse just heads for the cliff and takes off into space. Rather be dead than be captured.

Elyne Mitchell: There's no way that maybe?

Jock: No, no hope. Nowhere to land except for the bottom.

Elyne Mitchell: [Narrating] For years to come men around campfires, women at country shows, children in schools will tell stories of a great silver brumby seen galloping on windpacked snow. Of a ghost horse drinking at the Crackenback River. Of a horse that everyone thought was dead appearing in a blizzard at Dead Horse Gap and vanishing again. Of the wild stallion cry that could only be Thowra's. But no human really knows where the son of Bel Bel roams. Thowra, the greatest brumby of them all.

Taglines

The magic of the mountain. The obsession of a man. The beauty of the Silver Brumby.
His spirit cannot be tamed.
From the best selling classic Australian novel by Elyne Mitchell