Kevin Costner is a filmmaker known for his grand visions and ambitious projects. His directorial debut, “Dances with Wolves,” was a sweeping epic that revitalized the Western genre and earned him an Academy Award for Best Director. His subsequent films, such as “The Postman” and “Open Range,” continued to explore complex narratives and rich character studies within expansive settings. However, his latest project, “Horizon: An American Saga,” might be his most ambitious yet.
“Horizon: An American Saga” is a projected four-part film series that delves into the evolution of the American West during the Civil War. This wide-ranging ensemble piece incorporates a variety of cultural perspectives, each given careful consideration. The first installment, “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1,” is packed with enough ideas and storylines to keep most directors busy for their entire careers. Yet, Costner is just getting started. Despite its nearly three-hour runtime, the film moves at a brisk pace, leaving viewers eager to see how the story’s various threads will come together in future installments.
One of the film’s pleasures is how Costner luxuriates in the anthropological details of his characters’ lives, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the world he has created. When the film does erupt into action set pieces, such as a stunning raid filled with elaborately choreographed carnage, these moments are more kinetic, meaningful, and horrifying due to the rich context Costner has built around them.
“I love my gunfights, but I’m not in a rush to get to them,” Costner told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I’m in love with the language, and I think it informs [the action]. I’m willing to take my time saying the lines I want against these big spaces.” Even when “Horizon” focuses on violence, it often does so from a more personal perspective, plunging the audience into the point of view of a given character.
For instance, in a passage where some settler characters realize they are almost certainly going to die, Costner limits the perspective to stay inside the house, not showing what is happening outside. “That scene actually has three different emotions, and that’s what I think is missing in the majority of Westerns,” Costner explained. “It’s not that I’m trying to set the record straight, it’s just that they can be too simple for me.”
The script for “Horizon,” which Costner has been working on for decades, is anything but simple. The years of work have consolidated and clarified its ideas, making one of its greatest strengths the way it keeps the audience acclimated to both geography and narrative, no matter how complicated the story and action become.
Costner believes that providing a clear sense of onscreen space is vital to a Western, especially one focused on the building of a town, the “Horizon” of the title. To achieve this, he even planted trees in areas where he felt they were needed to give variety and definition to the landscape. “I feel there’s a comfort to it when you know where you’re at,” he said. This classical approach to visual storytelling, reminiscent of directors like John Ford and Akira Kurosawa, has become a rarity in Hollywood, but Costner is determined to keep it alive.
However, whether or not the audience will respond to Costner’s sensibility is a significant concern, given that he has invested millions of his own dollars into the “Horizon” saga. The success of “Part 1” is crucial to indicate whether there’s an appetite for more. The lyricism, poetry, and confidence of “Part 1” are all the more astonishing given that Costner is directing all these movies while also hustling for investors and making difficult decisions about how many of his own resources to sacrifice for the films.
“I’m hoping that doesn’t happen, and I don’t think it will,” Costner said. “I don’t think it will for one simple reason, which is that movies live forever. It’s not about the opening weekend. I’m going to own this movie forever.” Costner is determined to give the audience the kind of memorable experience that made him want to make movies in the first place. “It’s about that moment I had in the theater when I was little that was all about, ‘Can this change me? I know it’s designed to entertain, but can I grab something out of this that I want to take into my life, maybe a moment that I’ll never forget?’ And I think ‘Horizon’ is full of them.”
Despite the grand vision and meticulous effort, “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” has faced mixed reviews. Critics have pointed out that the film feels like it’s trying to do too many things and doing each of them poorly. The movie is described as being too spread out among too many characters and storylines, leaving the audience feeling empty and unsatisfied. Some have even suggested that the film feels more like the setup to a mini-series rather than a standalone cinematic experience.
However, not all reviews have been negative. Some critics have praised the film for its sincerity and moments designed to astonish. Rory O’Connor of The Film Stage called the film “appealingly sincere” and noted that Costner hasn’t forgotten where to point a camera. He acknowledged that while the film has its flaws, it also has plenty to enjoy.
The three-hour runtime of “Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1” is another potential hurdle for its success. It’s a significant ask for moviegoers, especially when it’s just the first part of a four-part series. However, Costner remains optimistic and committed to his vision, hoping that audiences will appreciate the depth and detail he has poured into the project.
In the end, “Horizon: An American Saga” is a testament to Kevin Costner’s dedication to storytelling and his belief in the power of cinema to change and inspire. Whether or not it achieves the same level of success as his previous works, it is clear that Costner has poured his heart and soul into this epic Western saga.
Source: IndieWire, The Film Stage, The Daily Beast
