← Back to Directory
The Horse
Movie

The Horse

1970 • Unknown

Woke Score
1
out of 10

Plot

Auguste Maroilleur, an elderly farmer, exploits 400 hectares of crop land with the help of his family, over which he rules with an iron hand. Things go awry the day he discovers one of his grandsons is involved in drug traffic. To make matters worse, the reckless youth has hidden the white powder in the Maroilleur farm. Without a moment's hesitation, Auguste gets rid of the toxic substance but, of course, the mob has different views...

Overall Series Review

The Horse (La Horse) is a Franco-Italian-West German crime thriller centered on Auguste Maroilleur, an aging, uncompromising farmer who rules his vast family and agricultural domain with an iron hand. The drama is ignited when his grandson gets involved in a drug trafficking ring and hides a shipment of heroin on the farm. Maroilleur, a man of fierce moral conviction and tradition, destroys the drugs, setting off a chain of violent retribution from the criminal mob. The movie is a raw, intense depiction of a patriarchal figure defending his family, his property, and an ancestral way of life against the corruption and violence of the modern underworld.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The film's entire focus is on a conflict of values and a power struggle between a family and a crime syndicate. Characters are defined purely by their actions—patriarchal defense, crime, and corruption. The narrative does not utilize race, immutable characteristics, or an intersectional lens for its conflict or thematic structure.

Oikophobia1/10

The central figure, Auguste Maroilleur, is a defender of his French home, farm, and family institution. His violent actions are in service of preserving his traditional way of life and ancestral land from external, criminal chaos, acting as a direct opposite of civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism1/10

The main dynamic is centered on the absolute authority of the elderly male patriarch who 'rules with an iron hand.' The plot hinges on his masculine, decisive, and protective actions in response to a threat to his family. There is no presence of the 'Girl Boss' trope, nor is there any anti-natal or anti-family messaging; the family structure is what he is fighting to save.

LGBTQ+1/10

The narrative is a crime and family drama focused on drug trafficking and generational conflict. There is no presence of alternative sexual ideologies, centering of non-normative sexualities, or discussion of gender theory within the plot.

Anti-Theism2/10

The moral framework is one of objective truth: drug trafficking is a corrosive evil that must be destroyed, and a man must defend his family with decisive action. The central character's moral conviction is a source of strength that pushes him to act as a judge, jury, and executioner against the criminals, establishing a clear, objective moral law over moral relativism.