Running Free (1999)

[bunniefuu]

I was born in a year when many
horses were sent to Africa...

... to work in the copper mines.

Africa was far away and
the journey was very long.

My mother was pregnant when
she was taken from her home.

She gave birth to me in the middle
of the Atlantic Ocean.

We didn't know where we were
being taken, or why.

The ship's rising and falling made
my world even more unstable.

On this strange and unsteady place,
I taught myself to stand.

That is how I started my life.

I had never seen the land
or the light of day.

I wondered what we were doing here.

The cold saltwater was a shock.

I hadjust learned to walk...

...and now I had to teach
myself to swim.

I fought to keep my head
above the waves...

...but soon I fell behind.

I heard my mother calling me.

But try as I might,
I couldn't swim any faster.

I couldn't answer my mother.
My throat was full of salty water.

I had to find my mother.

I had to find her.

What's that colt doing down there?
Take him on the train.

Why didn't they understand that
I needed to be with my mother?

I was hungry and thirsty.

This world made no sense.

We were packed together in
the boxcars in the desert heat.

I didn't see anything green
in this harsh land.

Why would they bring us
to such a place?

How would we live?

I became too weak to stand.

I found myself moving in
and out of dreams.

Sometimes I thought I was
still on the ship.

I felt that I couldn't hold
on much longer.

I was too sick to cry out.

My mother was going away.

That's when I lost all hope.

Poor boy. What happened to you?

Drink.

lt'll help.

This boy had a gentle touch.

I felt I could trust him.

Easy, boy. Come on.

Daisy! Bring me some water.

All right. lt's coming.

l'll take care of you.

-Have you seen the white horse?
-No, l haven't.

Good boy.

That's enough for now.

We need to go.

You feel better?

I saw horses working everywhere
in this town.

I wondered what would happen to me.

The boy told me that he was taking me
to the mine boss' stable...

... where all the pedigreed
horses lived.

He could see that I was no prince,
but he took me there anyway.

Stay here, okay?

-Watch him for me.
-You're making yourself trouble.

No, it's all right.
l have to do something.

The stallion looked huge to me.

He made it clear that
he ruled the place.

''This stable is for thoroughbreds. ''

''You're not welcome here,
you little runt. ''

But I had nowhere else to go.

What are you doing there?

You've already been working here
for three weeks for me, man.

What's that? Watch your tongue!

Did you see a nursing mare?
Found her baby.

Kid, do l look like
l have time for babies?

She probably died on the ship.
Bad luck for your colt, Richard.

-Bring it over!
-Get a move on!

Get ahold of her.

Get after her! Get on! Go on!

Come on. Don't be so choosy.

Try and drink some.

l couldn't find your mom.
But l'll stay with you. l promise.

I missed my mother.

I would never stop looking for her.

Good morning, Caesar.
How are you, boy?

Wrap his legs and give him a rubdown.

What?

What's this?

l found him in a boxcar.

What's your job, boy?

Wasting time or taking care
of my horses?

l felt sorry for him.

l think his mom is dead.

Let me keep him. Just for a while.

All right, handsome.

All right.

Thank you.

He's in a good mood today.

Why did you do that, Dad?
lt's better if you'd said no.

The boy's got nothing.
He's an orphan.

A little friend can't hurt.

The boss lives there.

He's got his own private well
with nice clean water.

Not like the dirty junk at the town.

Stay away from Caesar.

He's handsome...

...but mean.

That's our Beauty.

She loves to play.

She's much nicer than her father.

Beauty! Come here!

I hadn't even paid any attention
to Beauty before...

...but out here Beauty was
funny and full of life.

I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Her father, Caesar, was angry
to see us together.

Beauty...

...this is my boy...

...Lucky.

I was only the stableboy's horse.

I wasn't good enough to play
with his daughter.

Do you like him?

She likes you, Lucky.
Do you want to play together?

I hoped that Caesar would begin
to like me once he knew me.

But I was wrong.

''You useless little runt. ''

''If you come near my daughter,
I'll kick your teeth in. ''

Poor Beauty, having him for a father.

I thought someone should
challenge him.

l have bad news, Herr manager.

Hardly a surprise. We all knew
w*r in Europe was expected.

l must say, interesting,
the improvements you've made here.

lt's finally a town.

l have plans for this place.

You may need to change your plans.

This w*r is spreading to Africa.

We expect the enemy
to attack the town.

lf they b*mb the tracks,
you'll be stranded here.

We can't defend your town.

We still think you have a few weeks.

ln the event of an attack...

...you must be ready to evacuate.

This is an order.

Prost.

Don't give me any trouble, Caesar.

Easy, boy, easy. Easy.

Where's his brush?

Do it again.

Keep that runt out of here,
away from him.

Yes, sir.

Go to Hans.

-Get some more.
-On my way, sir.

Today, his mood's pretty bad.

It wasn't only in the stable
that the world was unfair.

In town, as people
prepared for w*r...

...I saw something else.

Horses were forced to walk in circles
to draw water from the town well.

Now you know why
they brought you here.

I decided on one thing that day:

I would never be chained to a wheel.

I was born to run free and wild.

No one taught me this.

It was something I knew in my blood.

Lucky.

Good boy.

Good boy.

Do you miss your own mom?

I heard a familiar voice.

My mother was calling from far away.

Steady, horse. There we go.

-Easy.
-Steady, steady.

I had dreamed of this moment
over and over.

But Caesar didn't give us much time.

Caesar was furious a lowly workhorse
had dared to enter his domain.

I was so sad. I wasn't strong enough
to protect my mother.

Easy, boy, easy.

Lucky. Easy.

I'll never forget the sight
of my mother being led away.

She tried to hide it from me, but
I could tell that she was badly hurt.

Easy.

-What's wrong with her?
-She's hurt.

-Can she work?
-No, she's finished.

l think she's going to be okay.

Let's hope.

l know how you feel.

My mother needed me.

I had to find her.

I thought I heard a horse
in the distance.

It was my mother.

She was very weak.

No one came to help.

I stood by her all night,
praying that she would survive.

I would take her far away from here.

My mother didn't make it.

I knew I couldn't stay in this place.

But l've looked everywhere for him.

He says Lucky doesn't have a chance.

l've heard stories about a hidden lake
somewhere in the mountains.

Perhaps the old horse found it, huh?

l don't believe in fairy tales.

Where were you? l was so worried.

Are you okay?

I had no other home except my boy.

I knew he would never turn me away.

Looks like a snakebite.

We've got to fix this, fast.
l'll take Caesar's medicine.

Look, Dad.

l told you.

You steal from my horse,
you steal from me.

l had to. l'm sorry.

Come here.

He really deserved it.

What sort of a place was this...

... where a boy could be beaten
for helping his friend?

Even the desert, with all its dangers,
was better than this.

Let's just go.

Nobody would miss us.

My boy told me about a magical lake
high in the mountains.

He told me we would go there
and live in paradise.

But I was smart enough to know we'd
have a hard time finding any lake.

In fact, all we discovered was
a lot of rocks and sand.

Did you hear that?

Hope it wasn't a leopard.

Here, Lucky.

The Bushman girl was amazing.

She could dig under the sand and
find ostrich eggs filled with water.

I waited to see what other things
she could do.

He hurt his leg.

He doesn't feel well.

What are you doing?

What must l do with this?

My boy didn't understand
this medicine.

The girl seemed to know
what I needed.

I hoped she would stay with us
for a while.

l'm Richard.

-Excuse me?
-Nyka.

That's Lucky.

Thank you.

He looks much better now.

Save some for me.

In the warmth of the fire...

... with the girl and
the boy close by...

...I thought that we had finally
left all danger behind.

In the morning, everything changed.

l don't know.

The stables!
l've got to get the horses.

Richard!

Stay away from here.

How long?

lf he bombs the tracks,
we're stranded. We have to evacuate!

-Everyone to the train!
-Hold it!

Stay, stay.

Caesar, come here.

Are you all right?

Let's go, Lucky.

Has he been injured?

l've got your horse, boss!

We have no place for a horse,
you fool!

Let him go!

Richard! Come on!

No! l can't leave him!

-Leave the horse!
-No!

Get on the train now!

No! Let me go! l can't leave him!

Lucky!

I was confused.
Where should I run?

The people had gone crazy.

Lucky!

I suddenly realized they were
taking my boy away from me.

Now I was really alone.

I would never see my friend again.

The horses didn't know what to do.

They had been abandoned, and they
had forgotten how to be wild.

Without my boy, I had to learn
how to survive on my own.

These horses pushed me away...

...as if to keep me from drinking
water that we couldn't reach anyway.

Suddenly, I remembered where
I could find water.

Beauty was happy to see me.

Why did Caesar hate me so much?

I was just a young colt.
All I wanted was a little water.

I would rather die than
bow to Caesar.

I thought of my boy.

I wished that I could see him again.

Lucky.

When the girl appeared,
I thought I was dreaming.

Once again, she knew what I needed.

I stayed with the girl because I
wanted to learn to live in the wild.

I knew that she would teach me
the ways of the desert.

I smelled the blood of
the hunters' k*ll.

I realized I did not belong here.

It was time for me to set out
into an unknown world...

... where I might be as wild
and free as my dreams.

I would miss the girl.

But I knew she would understand.

Alone in the desert, I grew strong.

But I started to feel lonely.

I wandered from one place to another.

These little cubs were hardly
the company I was looking for.

The shade was cool,
and so we rested a while.

At least I wasn't alone.

It never occurred to me to wonder why
two cubs would be alone in the desert.

Big mistake.

Help can come from
the most unlikely places.

Of course, it's wise to make friends
with someone who has horns.

The oryx and I accepted
each other's company.

And at first we travelled
well together.

What did I do wrong?

The oryx had found a girlfriend.

I understood.

It was not easy to live
a solitary life.

Each day surviving...

... each day alone.

It was unlikely that I would find
any other horses roaming the desert.

But I pushed onward...

... driven by my instincts.

I had to find my place in the world.

I had found what could not be found.

The lake in the mountains was real.

I wanted to share this place.

I thought of Beauty...

...and the other horses too.

I wished I could have brought
my mother to this place.

I thought of Caesar.

Why should the other horses
have to live in fear of him?

And why should I have to
live without Beauty?

I decided that one day,
when I was a stallion...

...I would go back.

I saw no signs of anyone in the town.

Had I come all this way only
to find that I was still alone?

And then I saw Beauty.

We had both changed...

...but I knew her at once.

I was thrilled that
she remembered me too.

Why wouldn't the other horses
follow us?

What did they have to fear?

Caesar would never allow
Beauty to leave.

But I was finally ready
to take him on.

I didn't know if I was
strong enough to win...

...but I was strong enough to try.

I could have hurt Caesar.

Some part of me wanted to k*ll him.

But he was old,
and I was the strong one now.

So I drove him away, where
he could never hurt another horse.

Now the horses followed us.

We had lived in the mountains
for years...

... without hearing the sound
of a machine or a human voice.

The horses who could
remember were afraid.

I promised them...

...I would defend my herd.

The stranger tracked my foal until
he found the rest of the herd.

I didn't recognize him.

Who was this intruder?

Easy, boy.

Easy.

I knew that whistle at once.

I looked for the boy...

...but I saw a man.

It was my boy.

His touch was the same.

Lucky.

You remember me.

l missed you.

l had to find you.

l had to know you were all right.

All these years l thought about you.

l'm sorry l left you, Lucky.

l'm glad you found this place.

l won't ever tell anybody.

This is the story of how we came
to live in the vast dunes of Africa...

...how we claimed a place that
will always belong to us.

Where my children and
their children...

... will always run free.