1850. A village of settlers is attacked in the middle of the night by Apaches. Among the few survivors, a ten-year-old boy who, to avenge his family, joins cowboys determined to kill Indians, guilty or not. Frances and her twelve-year-old daughter, other survivors, flee this place of death located on the banks of a coveted river while others stay, despite the advice of Trent Gephardt, captain of the Cavalry. Hayes Ellison, an experienced shooter, is forced to draw his Colts again to protect a prostitute who was looking after her neighbor’s baby, hunted by a family of gangsters.
Second part on September 11
Kevin Costner financed this four-part saga about the Conquest of the West with his own money. The breath that emerges from this first chapter proves that it is a work that is close to his heart. He plays a tired anti-hero, who no longer really believes in anything but finds himself awakened by circumstances. The second opus comes out on September 11 and the next two are still being filmed.
This choral chronicle seeks to depict how the settlers from Europe seized the country by force, to the detriment of the local populations, who are, for them, threats to be eradicated, obstacles to the freedom of the newcomers. The violent prologue begins with the reactivity of certain Indians, aware that it was a fight to the death for their survival, mercilessly attacking the first families trying to settle on territories that they annexed without worrying about those who already lived there. These are two worlds very far from each other that face each other, with within each community, divergent visions. An internal antagonism that can be seen as a metaphor for the current situation, everywhere in the world.
A noble message and a strong sense of spectacle
Beyond the timeless historical and political message, it is, above all, a breathtaking western, rich in duels, bloody confrontations and thrilling twists. Despite the contrary impression that the massacres in the two opening sequences might give, the story embraces the cause of the Indians. Kevin Costner does not overwhelm these people carried by a form of unconsciousness who already believed in a mythical American dream.
As part of their odyssey, they do not question the fate of the natives who are clearly acting in self-defense. Between the codes of a television soap opera and a personal auteur film, the actor-director finds the right tone and rhythm to convey his noble message, but with a strong sense of spectacle.
Western by and starring Kevin Costner, and with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Luke Wilson, Jena Malone and Michael Rooker.
