I Watch Films: Horizon: An American Saga: Chapter One

 

Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter One

In 1859 in the Arizona Territory, surveyors are killed by Apache; later a missionary comes by and buries them. By 1863 there is a settlement called Horizon there, perhaps unfortunately as it’s a place Apache regularly cross the river. There’s an attack, tents burned, cabins destroyed. Frances Kittredge and her daughter are the only survivors of her family; after the attack she joins others in returning to US Army Camp Gallant, where she starts a romance with Lieutenant Gephardt.

The Apache are divided on the issue of settlers. Pionsenay, the leader of the raid, believes the Apache will be pushed out, have to fight other tribes for land unless they defend their territory. The Elder Tuayeseh thinks co-existence is possible and desirable. Pionsenay leads his followers away, including one of Tuayeseh’s sons.

Orphaned teen Russell, who brought the soldiers too late (they’re too far and because of the Civil War they don’t have enough soldiers) joins with survivor Elias Janney and they team up with scalp hunters to take revenge on the Apache. Gephardt warns them against indiscriminate attacks. At a trading post they encounter an Apache and his son, and learn Pionsenay is responsible in a tense and sadistic confrontation. Trying to find him they find a village, wait until the men leave to hunt, then attack the elderly, women and children they find there.

Not near Horizon, up in Montana Territory, Lucy shoots local boss James Sykes and escapes with her son Sam to Wyoming Territory. She changes her name to Ellen and gets married. Also living with them is Marigold, occasionally a prostitute though this is tricky as the outpost they live near has a brothel which doesn’t allow competition and Ellen doesn’t let her bring men to the cabin. She propositions horse trader Hayes Ellison, then returns to the cabin to babysit while Ellen and her husband do a land deal. However it turns out the buyers are Caleb and Junior Sykes, James’s sons. Caleb sends Junior to find Sam, encounters Ellison and the two fight, Ellison shooting Junior. He and Marigold flee with Sam to a railroad construction camp; Ellen, now Lucy again, is kidnapped back to Montana. Eventually Marigold leaves, fostering Sam with a Chinese family.

In a final storyline there’s a wagon train heading west, towards the Arizona territory. Amongst them are relatives of Frances Kittredge; a British couple who treat everyone poorly; the captain; and two dubious guys who spy on the British woman when she’s bathing. She's using drinking water, which causes some fuss. They spot Pawnee native Americans which slows them as they have to find/make a defensible position each night.

All this is sort of tied together by leaflets advertising the town of Horizon as a place to settle. After three hours of epic Western none of this finishes; watch out for Horizon: An American Saga Chapters Two, Three and Four.

What to make of this, Kevin Costner’s passion project? There’s a lot to like, characters and settings get to establish themselves, the way these frontier societies organise themselves is shown. The action sequences build tension and have terrible, brutal violence. And if one storyline flags a bit, after half an hour we get to take a look at another one. The Western is a mature film genre, ripe for a new format; I applaud his attempt.

On the other hand it’s a three hour film with a dozen characters whose stories begin, wander for a while and then we get an advert for the next film. As an alternative to the prestige TV series, where a three hour film is spread over ten under-an-hour episodes, it’s an interesting experiment. The question is, will I care when Chapter Two comes out a year after this? Will I even remember? I’ve written some notes here so I can get myself up to speed, I guess that time will tell.

Watch This: Sprawling epic Western saga, offering a variety of stories around the settlement in the Arizona Territory
Don’t Watch This: Long, slow, and doesn’t finish