This is a film that I was deeply interested in, as I had a sort of vested interest in it. Almost every horse in the film, except 3-4 horses that were brought in from I am guessing California, were from the stable where I boarded my horse and took lessons. I was in high school, so when the movie came out I dutifully saw it, but it did not hold great interest with the exception of figuring out which horse was which. I did get to watch many of the actors take riding lessons from my riding instructor( who was trained in Germany and Egypt) All of the cast was exceptionally nice, none of what you read about regarding how stars act etc.. of course, I was allowed into the stable, since I both owned a horse there, worked for the stable and helped each morning get the horses loaded into the line of trailers to head out to various locations. I also was present to tack up and get the horses warmed up and cooled down for the lessons that my instructor gave the stars.. so that helped but i was not treated like, a kid or like help.. not about the movie, but definitely about the stars in the movie.
On to the movie, now that I am an adult and I have lived all over the country. I value this movie greatly. I am not Cajun, but I did grow up here. My family well, my grandmother's mother came directly from France and my grandfather's family descended from a tax collector sent over by the Spanish king when Spain was the owner of Louisiana.
I love the movie now because,well it shows what I have always known, that Cajuns are a fiercely loyal, independent, determined people. Family is everything, God, family, community and then everything else.. there are very few places that i have lived where i have seen this.. you see it among the Amish and the Mennonite peoples.. you see it some in the small pioneer towns that have not been invaded by tourist and everything else in the mountains of Colorado, that fierce loyalty to God, to family and to the community, most everywhere else, it just doesn't show up nearly as much or it does not seem to. This movie is a little bit of everything, with a taste of the music, the history and so very much more.. unfortunately in 2006, the Cajun culture is quickly disappearing as we have so very many people from all over the world living in the heart of Cajun country.. and make no mistake, there is a huge difference between creole and Cajun.. between the acadiana region and new Orleans.. the food is different, the people are different and the culture is different. When i was growing up, it was not unusual to walk into small country stores and hear people speaking Cajun french, it is disappearing, it is rare to hear it now.. and it will soon be lost like so many other minority languages in this country, from Native American languages to other pockets of people.. anyway, the movie is good, it has some really wonderful actors in it, it is worth seeing, it does take some intelligence, it is not a mass market movie.. it has to be watched as a period piece..
