Reviewing Movies

Heartland is a quality CBC production shot on a horse farm in the foothills of Alberta. Killing off the principal character in the first episode of a series is a novel approach to scripting but the writers seem to make it work for them. Shot in Kananaskis Country on a family farm that has passed through six generations of the same family Heartland features grampa Jack and his two daughters, a juvenile delinquent hired hand Ty, and a First Nations Vet Scott. Scott it seems is a former guest who was given a leg up by the deceased mother Marion. Rescuing wayward people and physically and psychologically damaged horses seems to be a theme here. Making it pay is quite another matter though and having a large competitive neigbour next door doesn’t help. Matriarchal families seem to be another theme that runs through the series. Men seem to get busted up on the rodeo circuit, divorced, or otherwise excluded from the picture.

Horses are high-strung animals subject to all sorts of maladies whose lineage is probably not aided by over-breeding. Although veterinary science has come a long way in treating these conditions there is a long tradition of folk medicine, native healers, and so-called horse whisperers who succeed where science fails. The premise of Heartland is that fifteen-year-old Amy has inherited her Mother’s innate gift for treating damaged horses and learned the tricks of the trade by osmosis from watching her Mother work. The supporting cast of characters have well-developed characterizations and the supplementary website and blog are not shy about acknowledging that the horses are part of the cast. As the Native-Canadian Vet, Nathaniel Arcand is the only name actor in the cast.