Kevin Costner has finally premiered Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1This first part of what aspires to be a brutal macro-project has taken three decades to see the light of day. The actor and director began planning it back in 1988, but it has taken more than thirty years – and he has even had to mortgage a good part of his assets – to be able to carry it out once and for all. An idea of stratospheric dimensions that is already landing on cinema screens.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is a compendium of stories that take place in the Wild West during the period of early settler settlements. It is the second half of the 19th century and, as such, there are many characters who try to make their lives there in very harsh and hostile conditions. An anthology of quite independent stories that will surely intersect in the future of the saga. Because although it lasts three hours, this is only the first installment.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Kevin Costner seeks the definitive western with a global and monumental portrait that demonstrates his unconditional love for the genre. A great work of which for now he barely shows us an introduction, as if it were rather the first part of a series. A compendium of enjoyable subplots and interesting characters that hold the promise of coming full circle one day.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Score: 4 out of 5.
Portrait of the Western
The plan of Kevin Costner with Horizon: An American Saga It’s not telling a story. It is to make a kaleidoscopic portrait of the entire western genre. Therefore, through a collection of the most archetypal characters, it tells the classic fables of this type of film. Throughout the film, the first western towns appear in Apache lands and some indigenous revolts. A widow trying to rebuild her life with her daughter, a homeless woman looking for her place in the world and an old cowboy forced to rescue a lady. An army regiment in the style of the Seventh Cavalry, pistol duels in the street, a family of bloodthirsty murderers…
They are all stories seen a thousand times in the western since cinema was cinema. And that’s the fun of the movie. Horizon: An American Saga It is, in short, a bible where Costner wants to collect everything that the great masters sowed. A monumental narrative under which is framed, in reality, a way of understanding the seventh art. A grand tribute to the genre of genres. It is John Ford forks Howard Hawks. A very rich film in which to get lost and wander in search of new stories in each of its corners.
To carry out this impossible feat, the first thing he does Costner is to present a vast universe. These are independent stories, but they all take place in the same world. A place where human nature was more exposed than ever. The microcosm in which, among sand, forests and mountains, humanity built itself. A land without law. It is there that the director takes the viewer to discover the West at its best.
Series format
Of course, when you want to cover so much, there are also drawbacks. The main one is that Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 It feels more like a series than a movie. Its scale is so broad, the number of characters and stories it presents is so great that it ends up exceeding the limits of a feature film. The narrative structure it proposes Costner It is much closer to that of television projects than to that of films. Especially considering that there are still three installments to be released to complete it.
It is obvious that in the future these characters will end up crossing paths with each other. Some will establish alliances and others will have to shoot each other. But in this first chapter the stories appear in fits and starts, without any kind of relationship or internal coherence between them. When it ends, none of these plots have concluded. All the plot arcs remain open and very distant from each other. There is no ending, but because there is not even a knot. Or, rather, there are many small knots, but not a central one. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 It is a presentation, the first part of a miniseries whose common thread has not yet been nuanced.
The only logical reason why the director has chosen to turn Horizon: An American Saga in movies and not in television episodes it must be because he wants to return the western to its natural place, the big screen. More than enough reason to do it, on the other hand. His love for the genre is so deep that it overflows the screen and fills the film with soul, with a unique and quasi-nostalgic aura. Despite its problems, it is impossible for someone who likes Westerns not to enjoy the work.
Rhythm and efficiency
The first hour of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 It is overwhelming, sensational. The director knows that he needs to capture attention from minute one if he does not want viewers to reject such an ambitious project. And he achieves it with an exercise in overwhelming style. The handling of action and tension is prodigious. That first act alone is worth paying every cent of the ticket. Afterwards, the pace slows down, although in no case does it stop.
The range of subplots is so large that Costner He manages to dance with them so that the whole thing never gets boring. There is always a point of uncertainty that remains in the air and that generates a desire to know more, to see how it continues. If it is also supported by the impossible landscapes of the West and a soundtrack as magnificent as the one he has composed, John Debneythe enjoyment is undeniable. Obviously, of course, not all the stories told are equally well-rounded. At times the film shines and at other times it is too flat and standard. This is normal for something so gigantic. Fortunately, the former are more numerous than the latter.
Furthermore, one of the great virtues of Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is that the director makes sure the audience knows where they are at all times. Despite the collection of characters and conflicts that pass before his eyes, there is no sense of loss. He allows himself to be fooled by all of them, although he empathizes more with some than with others. The film does not leave room for confusion. When you reach the end, the three hours are noticeable but, since it has not ended, the need to see more is also born in the viewer.
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 It is, in short, the most ambitious and colossal project of a madman in love with Westerns. A global portrait of the Wild West that works more as a series than as a film but that embraces everything that this type of cinema has given to the world throughout its history. A compendium of always entertaining topics that will continue on August 30 with Chapter 2, which Costner It is already rolled and ready to take out of the oven. We will be there to see him and accompany him on this impossible adventure to honor the father of all genres.
