Set in the depths of the Great Depression, the movie can be viewed as an allegorical critique of capitalism, its exploitation of labor (the dance contest), speeding up the production line (dance sprints), winner-takes-all reward system (the last couple standing wins the prize money), the cynical, callous manipulation of people's dreams, and mystification ("It's only entertainment, folks.") What made the movie even harder for me to watch was the knowledge that grueling dance marathons were a popular fad in the 20's and 30's. The only explanation I can think of for how such a grim movie with a downer ending got made was that the 4 credited producers (Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff, Johnny Green, Theodore Sills) had personal knowledge of the Great Depression. They didn't forget how hard times were, and didn't want the world to forget either.

Paul, thanks for providing some context for the movie. As for how such a dark, despairing movie got produced? There were significant cultural influences including the Vietnam War, youth dissatisfaction with the Nixon administration, counterculture movement and in cinema, an embrace of the French New Wave which itself had roots in its appreciate for American crime movies and was fond of combining violence with humor, violence with drama, violence with anything. Horses is at its core a violent movie. We think of the ending, yes, but the metaphorical violence the dance contestants experience, as you point out, conveys the dark mood existing among youth at this point. Remember Easy Rider, The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, all of them appealed to young people. And Hollywood, losing money with big flops like Hello Dolly and Cleopatra, sought out young producers and filmmakers to make these indie type movies, anything to lure in young audiences. So yes, to our modern sensibilities when it seems like every movie Hollywood puts out has to have some pre-branded connection like LEGOs or Star Wars, there actually was a time when that wasn't the case. Horses feels like what we tend to call a "70s movie" in terms of its sensibilities. Of course, it did come out in 1969. Thanks for those observation, Paul. Just watching that final scene featured in the post. Two characters. Lots of space and silence to let the characters work through their respective reactions to what has transpired. God, I miss movies like this. And then I'm reminded of Whiplash, Birdman, Nightcrawler... and I don't feel so bad.